May 24 — The Mesa Department of Streets and Transportation launched a community survey to gauge people’s concerns about road and traffic safety issues, including an interactive map where respondents can identify specific issues.
Sabine King, supervising engineer for Streets & Transportation, said the survey — part of the city’s Comprehensive Safety Action Plan — aims to identify key issues community members face on the roads.
“We’re doing public outreach to get some input from people who are in Mesa to see where the biggest concerns are so we can really target our efforts in those areas and get the best results,” King said.
Based on feedback, the department will develop data-driven solutions to educate community members about traffic safety while strategically addressing traffic and traffic safety concerns.
“We’re going to come up with some projects or strategies that we can employ here in the city to reduce accidents,” King said.
King said his department analyzes accidents throughout the city, but also needs input from people who live or work in — or travel through — Mesa.
“We combined these two sets of data to come up with a strategy to address security in Mesa,” King said.
The department said an average of four people die or are seriously injured on Mesa roads every week.
It determined that between 2017 and 2022, more than half of injury crashes occurred at intersections, and 21% of fatal or serious crashes in Mesa involved driving behaviors such as speeding and being under the influence of alcohol or drugs. King said there has also been an increase in serious accidents involving pedestrians, bicycle users and motorcycles.
She said: “40% of fatal and serious injury accidents include cyclists, pedestrians and motorbikes, and this has really been increasing in the last three years specifically.”
Mesa’s main objective is to reduce fatal and serious accidents by 30% by 2030.
The department said the study will enhance Bureau efforts to reduce crashes through safety planning and education, redesigned streets and policy and operations updates.
King said the department looks at solutions like “engineering, improving our roads for an infrastructure project, working with police to do enforcement or perhaps modifying our current laws to address some of the issues we’re seeing.”
The survey asks respondents to rate the areas of roads and driving behaviors where they have the most safety concerns. Some road areas listed are bike lanes, crosswalks, intersections, turning lanes, major roads, and more.
The survey also asks respondents to rate several proposed solutions to improve road safety for pedestrians, cyclists, public transportation users and drivers in Mesa.
The online community survey includes an interactive map where respondents can use a marker tool to identify a specific area with a text box.
The map also includes different transportation methods such as walking, driving and cycling, as well as specific road safety categories such as intersections, traffic and lighting.
Since the start of the online survey, respondents have identified a number of areas where they have encountered security concerns. An anonymous respondent marked the intersection of University Drive and Country Club Drive with the caption “Bike lanes very narrow at intersection.”
The department is also investing in promoting educational solutions. King said it offers a community pledge system where people can pledge to follow safe driving practices. It also offers different bicycle and pedestrian education classes.
“We realize that not everything can be solved with engineering or enforcement with police,” King said. “We really need the community to change its culture to help us improve safety. Everyone will have to participate in this.”
Mesa is hosting the research and traffic safety plan on the project page and is publicizing the research through press releases, public safety and city management newsletters, Valley Metro and social media networks.
The road safety survey is open until May 31st.
The department is offering a $100 gift card drawing for survey participants and their feedback.
“We just wanted to bring attention to this effort and really get people on board with the idea that we are trying to solve this problem in Mesa and that we really want to partner with them,” said city spokeswoman Cassie Robles.
