City Official Briefs Ahwatukee Foothills Village on Traffic Issue

Pedestrian safety was on the agenda at a recent meeting of the Ahwatukee Foothills Village Planning Committee. Mailen Pankiewicz, the pedestrian safety committee for the City of Phoenix showed the committee various statistics on fatalities and injuries inflicted on pedestrians and also various potential resolutions to reduce those fatalities. “Today’s presentation has to do with pedestrian safety in the city of Phoenix but also how you as members of a village planning committee can make some decisions that actually affect the design and improve pedestrian safety in your village,” were the words Pankiewicz used to preface her presentation.
First Pankiewicz displayed a graph containing all collision fatalities in the city of Phoenix, separated by the two colliding entities (vehicle to vehicle (52%), vehicle to pedestrian (44%), vehicle to bicycle (4%).) These fatalities totaled 926 fatalities in the City of Phoenix roads within the past five years. Pankiewicz then noted City Council approved the development of a comprehensive roadway safety action plan. Pankiewicz stated the plan would have a “strong community component.” Pankiewicz felt this important due to her belief that different communities had different priorities and safety initiatives. Pankiewicz also emphasized identifying streets where fatalities were common, stating that a number of streets concentrated the majority of the injuries, also noting Ahwatukee was not an area of particular concern, due to most fatalities happening in areas with more density. In addition to concentrated issues, Pankiewicz also discussed solutions, notably the HAWK signal. “These are signals that remain off during most of the day unless someone wants to approach.” These signals were button-operated during the day but made so that they activated immediately during peak hours when most fatalities happened. This is helpful due to most drivers having difficulty seeing pedestrians at night and pedestrians, not wanting to wait to cross during the nighttime. Pankiewicz also noted the strategical placement of a HAWK on the corner of a gas station in an area where people relied on it for food, stating that in areas where necessities or frequently visited locations existed, fatalities were much more prevalent as an issue. Pankiewicz noted that fatalities significantly lowered since the HAWK was installed. These HAWK signals notably interested committee member, Alex Benezra who asked about their potentially installing one in Ahwatukee. Benezra identified a location in Ahwatukee between 40th street and Ranch Circle. “That would be a seem to a perfect spot for a HAWK signal,” said Benezra of the identified area. Pankiewicz said, “Our two million dollars for pedestrian safety right now is being applied to those hot spots in the city where we see a continued pattern of pedestrian collisions.” She noted that they still took requests for HAWKs in other locations of the city, however when there’s a tighter budget for certain areas and a large request for HAWKs each year. While ultimately not refusing the request, she noted circumstances out of her control made it unlikely that the HAWK would be installed. Pankiewicz also noted certain locations do fine with a crosswalk. Ultimately the discussion informed the Committee on the nature of roadway fatalities as well as potential solutions to reduce roadway injuries and fatalities