http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/knau/local-knau-941138.mp3
Phoenix, AZ – If you've traveled the highways, you've seen them -- those blue
and white signs near exit ramps advertising restaurants, gas
stations and hotels. But Laura Douglas of the Department of
Transportation said they're neither owned nor erected by the
state. While that means no state expense, it also means no
revenues for the use of the rights of way.
(These profits go towards a private company. They don't go
towards transportation services. They don't go into the highway
fund. So we're reevaluating where that money goes to and how that
can best be provided for drivers and to transportation-related
projects.)
Douglas said ADOT is looking at some sort of revenue sharing
arrangement when the contract with Logo Signs of America is
renegotiated. There's a fair amount of money changing hands. For-
profit businesses pay $120 a month for their logo on an
interstate highway sign. The cost is only $44 a month on rural
roads. But there can be six logos on each sign. And there are
close to 2,200 signs scattered around the state. Douglas said
while ADOT is still in talks with the company, her agency thinks
it might be able convince it to give the state about $2.5 million
a year in fees. For Arizona Public Radio this is Howard Fischer.