Marana officials are reconsidering installing a stoplight at an intersection next to Marana High School where an 18-year-old student was critically injured March 15.
A traffic engineering study conducted by the town in November determined the intersection of West Emigh and North Sandario roads did not warrant any sort of traffic-control devices, Marana traffic engineering division manager Fernando Prol said.
Marana senior Cecelia Van Dyke remained in critical condition earlier this week at University Medical Center, where she's been since being flown there after her vehicle collided with a garbage truck after she turned north onto Sandario shortly after school let out.
As a result of the crash, Prol said, the town is taking another look at what can be done at the intersection, which lies about a quarter-mile east of the high school, 12000 W. Emigh Road.
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"Anytime there's an accident we do a further review of an intersection," Prol said. "We are reassessing it."
Marana Unified School District spokeswoman Tamara Crawley said district officials are meeting with the town either today or Friday to discuss the issue.
The three-way intersection currently calls for drivers going east on Emigh to stop before turning, while drivers going either direction on Sandario have through access.
Prol said the 2007 study, which was conducted due to a request by Marana Councilwoman Patti Comerford, said no traffic device was needed because the traffic flow at Emigh and Sandario was not substantial enough even during peak school admission and dismissal times.
"We have to be very careful about where we install traffic signals, because traffic signals don't always solve all the problems," Prol said. "Traffic signals aren't always the panacea."
But Comerford, who spoke during the March 18 Marana Town Council meeting about the need for a traffic control device at that intersection, said even just making Emigh and Sandario a three-way stop would go a long way toward improving safety in the area.
"I don't know how many people ever died at a stop sign," Comerford said. "Everyone should have to stop there."
A four-way stop exists about a mile to the north at Sandario and West Twin Peaks Road. Prol said that intersection was altered from a two-way stop a few years ago after a traffic study was requested.
Flashing red lights sit atop stop signs in all directions to warn drivers, and Prol said there are raised bumps on the roads to promote slower speeds approaching the intersection.
"We've got a lot of traffic control devices to make sure drivers are aware of that presence," Prol said.
Though close to the high school, Crawley said, the intersection does not have any of the crosswalks or other safety features, such as reduced speed limits, that are normally found near schools, because the student parking areas are on the far west side of the campus, and because no students at the school walk to or from school.
Comerford said something needs to be done because of the number of drivers turning on and off Sandario who have very little experience behind the wheel.
"You have new, young drivers," Comerford said. "They don't know when to stop and when to go. Those kids are not equipped to make those decisions."
