Ignoring road barricades can come with a cost

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — More than 500 barricades are put up on flooded roads around Tucson during monsoon, and some of them are ignored by drivers.

“Road closed” signs on Harrison Rd. at the Pantano Wash were pushed to the side as drivers drove past them on Sunday.

“It’s sunny, it should be leveling out. I know it should be fine,” said driver, Xavier Moreno.

Others decided to turn around when they saw the flooded road.

Faith Abercrombie

“We were kind of like gauging to see if we can actually make it across or not,” said cyclists Chelsea Carr and Andrew Gardner.

Moreno said he feels like sometimes, road barricades are up for too long- and if it’s sunny, he’s going to proceed with caution.

“It’s way quicker, I’m not going to go all the way and loop around. It just doesn’t make sense unless it was raining, and it probably would be going up, then no I wouldn’t have gone through there,” said Moreno.

Cyclists Chelsea Carr and Andrew Gardner said it’s not worth the risk.

“We have seen a car swept off into the river from the water washed onto a road like that,” said Carr.

A rescue and car removal can cost up to $2,000.

If you get caught driving through, you could be charged with reckless driving counting as a misdemeanor, according to Pima County.

“It is not safe to cross that roadway. It’s not worth your life and it’s also not worth the life of our first responders,” said Erica Frazelle at the Tucson Department of Transportation and Mobility.

The department said they’ve seen too many times people or cars getting rescued after they drove through a flooded road.

Faith Abercrombie

“Even a little bit of water, you don’t know the condition of the roadway underneath that water or how deep the water really is,” said Frazelle.

If you’re concerned about adding time to your drive, Pima County’s Regional Transportation Authority has an online tool that tracks traffic conditions including flooded roads.