Pima County transportation officials this year began work on projects intended to improve safety at the 10 intersections and roadways that need it most. Here's a look at three of the top projects, and the recommended solutions for each.
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When is a road deemed unsafe?
● The Pima County Transportation Department's Safety Management System program analyzes crash data from the previous three years and applies a formula to develop a prioritized list of safety-improvement projects that identify the county intersections and segments of roads most in need of safety improvements. The formula considers four factors:
● Crash frequency: the number of accidents at an intersection or on a stretch of road in the preceding three years.
● Crash rate: the number of accidents in a year at an intersection or on a stretch of road divided by the number of vehicles that pass through in a year.
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● Traffic volume: the number of vehicles in a period (usually 24 hours).
● Severity index: a statistical value given to wrecks that cause death, injury or property damage.
● After these four factors are applied, a computer program uses the numerical value from all four factors to determine the priority of each safety-improvement project. The top 10 projects are then recommended for the county's Capital Improvement Program.
Road design payouts
● The county has settled 181 lawsuits alleging unsafe road design in the past decade. Here are the largest:
Amount of Claimant(s) Date of incident Location payout
Gail McQueen April 3, 1996 Bowes Road $146,067
Mike Olbin May 28, 1997 Redington Road $297,662
Ellen Fox Sept. 22, 1997 Kolb-Sunrise $151,514
Maya Westdyke Nov. 7, 1998 Pontatoc Road $836,498
Chelsea Bouchee Dec. 7, 1998 Dodge-Rillito River $1.5 million
Maria Ellis Aug. 21, 2000 Sunset Road $132,712
Elizabeth Lindberg Jan. 1, 2001 First Avenue $430,592
Joan Wheeler Sept. 18, 2002 Sunset-Sunray $934,856
