The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) has started work on a dust detection system that it hopes will reduce the number of collisions caused by dust storms on a stretch of Interstate 10.

ADOT is installing equipment for long- and short-range radar and closed-circuit video cameras to help the department detect and predict adverse conditions along I-10 between mileposts 209 and 219.

Another part of the project is not receiving as much attention, but it might help save lives on a notorious stretch of I-10. ADOT is finally fixing perhaps the most hazardous stretch of I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix.

The 4-5 mile stretch around milepost 212 is notorious for dangerous and often fatal, crossover accidents. Crossover crashes occur when vehicles cross through an unprotected median, into opposing lanes of traffic. The results are often catastrophic and fatal.

The current project includes widening I-10 from milepost 209 to 213, realigning the freeway to remove an “S” curve and building a new interchange with State Route 87. The work will be funded in part by a 54 million dollar federal grant.

The Leader Law Firm has been involved in two wrongful death lawsuits involving this deadly stretch of Interstate 10. In the last ten to fifteen years, there have been around fifty crossover accidents in this location (MP 209-MP 213) – an astonishing number.

According to the Wilcox Range News, ADOT says “We’re excited about the opportunity to make Arizona freeways safer.”

We thank ADOT for finally doing the right thing.

However, ADOT has underplayed this widening project by announcing it in a footnote related to the “dust detection project.”

While dust detection is important, it is more critical that ADOT is fixing this deadly stretch of highway between Tucson and Phoenix.

Please, drive safely and defensively on Arizona’s highways. They are more dangerous than you think.