Chandler launching ‘Roadway Safety Action Plan’ study to reduce road fatalities

CHANDLER, AZ — Chandler is taking a closer look at the safety of its roads with a citywide traffic study launching soon. The goal is to reduce and ultimately eliminate traffic fatalities on city streets.

“This will be the first comprehensive citywide study that looks at everything around the city and just a holistic approach,” said Jason Crampton, transportation planning manager for the City of Chandler.

The federally funded study will run 12 to 18 months. It will map crash history, pinpoint the city’s most dangerous intersections and corridors, and produce concrete recommendations to bring that number to zero.

“The recommendations could entail capital improvements on roadways, it could involve education, enforcement, so all kinds of different approaches, it is not just construction-related improvements,” Crampton said.

Completing this plan also sets the city up for an opportunity at more federal funding to make those improvements a reality.

Over the last 5 years, there have been about 450 crashes with fatalities or serious injuries. About 70% of those happened at intersections.

“Those major arterial intersections where people are making left turns, that is probably the highest incident of injury and fatality in the city; it is not necessarily one specific location,” Crampton said.

We asked Chandler neighbors on our ‘Your Chandler News’ Facebook page where they are most concerned about traffic safety. The responses stretched from one side of the city to the other.

For Serafin Burciaga, one intersection came to mind immediately.

“Oh, immediately the Arizona Ave and Chandler Boulevard intersection, because I make those left turns at Chandler Boulevard kind of often,” Burciaga said.

Burciaga has lived in Chandler all his life and wants to see a change at that intersection.

“It’s just kind of hard to see, it’s just kind of like a design flaw,” Burciaga said.

The city says concerns like those will play a role in the study as well.

While the study will take some time, the city reminds drivers to drive safely, watch out for others on the road, and put their cell phones down.