Pedestrian safety project begins in Arizona

The Arizona Department of Transportation recently launched a new project, which will provide students and local residents with a new pedestrian hybrid beacon.

The project, which is in collaboration with the Tohono O’odham Nation, will have crews install a crosswalk signal that will be activated by pedestrians on State Route 86 in Sells.

This traffic light will be part of a system of signs and indicator lights that will help pedestrians to monitor vehicle traffic while they safely cross major highways or streets. The new technology will only be added at marked crosswalks that don’t already have a standard traffic signal.

The new device will be built an estimated 200 feet to the west of Old Rental Road. It will give students from the nearby Indian Oasis Intermediary School and local residents a safer method to crossing the highway.

The project, which amounts to $690,000, will add pedestrian walkways to SR 86 on both sides as well as a new foot bridge that will cross a drainage ditch, giving better access to the new crosswalk.

Crews with ADOT will start to survey and clear the site of the project this coming week. They will be at the worksite on weekdays, between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. The speed limit will be marked down to 35 mph within the work zone.

Officials estimate that the project will be finished in January 2016.