A controversial traffic light has been installed in front of a gas station on US 93 in Arizona

Las Vegas, Nev. (FOX5) – A traffic light in Arizona is causing a political rift between two state offices.

A political dispute is brewing in Arizona along US 93 between the Arizona Department of Transportation and Mohave County over a new traffic light recently installed at a gas station called Last Stop in the small town of White Hills, Arizona. .

According to Mohave County officials, there was no public advertising with this new light and they want it removed.

“No public publicity that we’re aware of,” said Buster Johnson with the Mohave County Board of Supervisors. “They did it at the beginning, they asked our public works, and public works said no, it’s not a good idea, and that’s the last we heard from them before it went up.”

ADOT’s lack of public disclosure and transparency is at the heart of the dispute between Mojave County officials and the much larger, more powerful transportation agency.

“They have treated us very well in the past, so it’s a surprise to me. We can’t quite understand why they ignored us on this,” Johnson said.

According to Mohave County officials, ADOT has completely ignored their repeated requests for answers about why the traffic light was installed on US 93, which they describe as a “freeway.”

“The people there weren’t happy about it either, which surprised me,” Johnson said. “I thought that maybe they would support the light more even through a small number of people, but they didn’t support it at all. They think it’s dangerous. “

FOX5 reached out to ADOT’s contact in Phoenix, and while they never responded to Mohave County, they did respond to us in a brief statement:

A traffic light was installed and paid for by the landowner as part of a permit to construct a traffic light along public property associated with the new construction. Analysis of the traffic signal has shown that the signal is guaranteed.

“Every retailer wants to have a traffic light in front of their location so people can stop and see their place and increase business, but that’s not how the highway department works,” Johnson said.

According to ADOT, the gas station paid 100% for the new traffic light, which essentially forces freeway traffic to stop right in front of their store. FOX5 tried to reach out to the last gas station to respond to what Mohave County officials describe as a “traffic light in the middle of self-service.”

“If we don’t hear from ADOT, what we’re going to do next is go to our state legislature to put pressure on them to find out what’s going on,” Johnson said.

Meanwhile, as the political ping-pong game between Mohave County and the Arizona Department of Transportation continues over an illegal traffic light, drivers along US 93 in northwest Arizona are passing the latter’s gas station, regardless of whether to whether they like it or not. no

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