TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Pima County was identified as one of the country’s areas with the highest traffic deaths.
The Biden-Harris Administration announced $800 million will be given to local agencies to help decrease the rise of traffic deaths.
Pima County was awarded $1.52 million to develop a plan of action. The county’s fatality rate is nearly 11 times higher than the national average.
The Deputy Director at the Pima County Department of Transportation said their team will create a plan and are focused on creating a culture of safety.
“We know that we’re seeing poor safety performance throughout the infrastructure and throughout the network. We need to really dig into where that’s happening, why it’s happening,” said Paul Casertano.
Casertano said PDOT will work with the cities and local law enforcement to help create the safety plan.
“We’re expecting it to be kind of in the range of an 18 month process. There will be extensive public input because not only do we want to look at the data, we also want to make sure that we get a clearer understanding of where does the public feel unsafe," said Paul Casertano.
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Faith Abercrombie is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before coming to KGUN, Faith worked as a videographer for the Phoenix Children's Hospital Foundation and as a reporter and producer on the youth suicide documentary, "Life is..." on Arizona PBS.
Share your story ideas with Faith by emailing faith.abercrombie@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
