Navajo Nation approves $120 million for roads, bridges, transportation upgrades

The 25th Navajo Nation Council approved $120 million from the Síhasin Fund on Tuesday, clearing a major transportation package that could change how Apache County-area residents get to school, work, clinics and emergency care. Lawmakers raised the spending from an original $84 million after an amendment by Delegate Vince R. James, and set each delegate region at $5 million to spread the work more evenly across the Navajo Nation.

Council Delegate Arbin Mitchell sponsored Legislation No. 0012-26, and the April 22 council release also identified Casey Allen Johnson as a co-sponsor. The money will fund a Transportation Improvement Expenditure Plan for roads, bridges and related transportation systems, a category that matters most in places like Chinle, Window Rock and other Navajo communities where long drives over rough pavement are part of daily life.

The next question for residents is which routes get built first. During committee review, the Navajo Division of Transportation said the original $84 million version would have funded 64 projects, with selection based on traffic volume, housing density and proximity to essential services. NDOT said priority went to school bus routes, roads near health-care facilities serving high-risk patients, and corridors with safety concerns or high accident rates. Mitchell said communities have gone too long without adequate investment and tied the measure to public safety for elders and children riding buses.

The bill moved through the legislative process before reaching the full council. It was introduced on January 15 and posted for public review on January 16, then approved by the Resources and Development Committee on February 23 and the Budget and Finance Committee on March 5. At the committee stage, NDOT said it expected the project set to be completed within 36 months and that contractor payment timelines had already been reduced to about 46 days, a sign officials want the work to move faster once projects are awarded.

For Apache County, the size of the vote lands against a larger transportation crisis. Reporting in 2024 said about 75% of roads on the Navajo Nation were unpaved dirt roads, and Navajo and Apache County officials had just broken ground on Carrizo Pit in eastern Arizona, the Nation’s first gravel pit, after more than two decades of work. President Buu Nygren also traveled to Washington, D.C., on April 1 to push for stronger federal support, and leaders said on April 9 they were aiming to contract about $130 million in transportation projects by July and as much as $200 million by the end of 2026. Right-of-way approvals remain a delay, but Tuesday’s vote put a larger pool of money in place for the roads and bridges families use every day.