County looks to stem rural accidents
Safety in focus after spate of crashes at intersections
Yuma County will focus on making improvements at intersections in the new year in efforts to curb a spate of accidents on rural roads, including two fatal crashes that occurred in December, the county supervisors chairman says.
The county currently is installing a traffic signal at Avenue B and County 19th Street, previously identified as one of the intersections in the Somerton area where accident risks are high, Supervisors Chairman Tony Reyes said.
“Increasing safety on county roads is a continual process,” Reyes said. “Last year we concentrated on (repaving or repairing) roads. Now we will (focus) on traffic signals and flashing lights.”
Reyes said poor condition of pavement was previously identified as a factor in accidents on rural roads, prompting the county to undertake resurfacing projects along Highway 95 between Somerton and San Luis, at the Avenue B and County 19 intersection and at other locations in the south county.
The second step, he said, is to install either traffic signals or warning lights at any rural intersections where traffic counts justify their use.
“There will be some intersections where putting
in traffic signals is justified, but in others not. For that, there has to be a study, and warning lights will be installed according to the needs. But either way, people will see more activity by the county in that regard.”
Warning lights were already in place at Somerton Avenue and County 18th Street, the scene last month of a two-car accident that claimed the life of a Somerton woman and her 5-year-old son and injured two other members of her family. The Yuma County Sheriff’s Office said a pickup truck traveling on County 18th failed to yield the right-of-way, colliding with an SUV driven by Doraly Correa, killing her and her son.
Somerton Cocopah Fire Chief Paul DeAnda, whose firefighters provided aid to victims of that accident, said a stop sign and flashing light at that intersection is not enough. He told the Somerton City Council recently he planned to appeal to the county to replace it with a signal with red and green lights.
Reyes said the decision about what type of traffic control device should be installed depends on the number of vehicles that use an intersection. Some intersections in the county’s rural areas, he added, do not received the volume of traffic that would justify a signal.
In any case, he said, accident risks at some intersections are difficult to minimize no matter what control devices the county puts in place he said.
“The rural area roads in the county have a very dangerous mix of traffic,” Reyes said. “There are private vehicles, there are semi-tractor trailers, agricultural vehicles, buses and, during the season, the winter visitors. I believe the high incidents of accidents has a lot to do with that factor, and that’s something we can’t control.”
And, he added, traffic control devices alone cannot prevent accidents that stem from speeding, distracted drivers and other unsafe practices behind the wheel.
The light at Avenue B and County 19th is scheduled to begin operating this month.