October 23, 2017

Daryl Cole, City of Tucson DOT

201 N. Stone Ave.
Tucson, AZ 85701

Dear Mr. Cole,

We are writing today to address the pilot program for protected left turns at the Speedway Boulevard
and Campbell Avenue intersection. Protected left turn signaling is the single most powerful tool traffic
engineers have to reduce crashes at intersections.
Based on the Federal Highway Intersection Safety Issue Brief 5, November 2009, if signals with left
turn arrows are converted to protected left only turns, ALL crashes would be reduced 99%. This
includes vehicle versus vehicle, vehicle versus bicycles, and vehicle versus pedestrian. The question of
a brief delay should not override our decision to reduce crashes by this degree, particularly when
seconds added to a trip may reduce the economic costs and the anguish of personal loss associated
with left turn crashes.
We support full implementation of protected left turns citywide. A single intersection pilot program
over the course of a full year is simply allowing every other intersection to remain unnecessarily
unsafe for 12 months and potentially killing or injuring dozens. It is crucial to implement protected left
turns prior to the design and construction phases of major roadway projects such as Grant Road and
Broadway Boulevard.
We request that the Pedestrian Advisory Committee be directly involved in the evaluation of the
implementation of left-turn program; in particular, to review metrics used to measure the success and
failure of the project as well as various design factors which may impact it such as signal timing. Any
user survey needs to be a pre- and post- pilot survey, and we request input into the questions.
In a city that has been wracked recently by so many pedestrian fatalities, our focus needs to shift from
vehicular speed and volume to the safety of everyone on the streets. Protected left turns are in step
with the countermeasures outlined in the Pedestrian Safety Action plan and best practices for safety
on our roadways. We strongly encourage you to take this important action to protect our community.
Sincerely,

Vanessa Cascio Wendy Lotze

Chair, Tucson Pedestrian Advisory Committee Vice-Chair, Tucson Pedestrian Advisory Committee

CC: Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, City Manager Michael Ortega, Members of the Tucson City Council