ADOT expertise helping Mexico create a safer trip to Puerto Peñasco

LUKEVILLE – Arizona Department of Transportation expertise is helping officials in the Mexican state of Sonora promote safety on the highway leading to beaches in Puerto Peñasco.

ADOT representatives visited Mexico recently to train first responders, the military and government officials on Traffic Incident Management, which promotes quickly clearing incident scenes when appropriate as well as safeguards for motorists and emergency workers. Traffic Incident Management techniques have been shown to reduce secondary crashes that often are more serious than the initial incidents.

The next step of this binational partnership is Sonora creating a safety corridor before spring break season along the 63 miles of Mexico Route 8, which many Arizonans take south from Lukeville.

“This historic collaboration between ADOT and our Sonoran counterparts, including Governor Claudia Pavlovich, on the creation of the safety corridor is great for Arizona,” said Juan Ciscomani, senior adviser to Governor Doug Ducey on International and Regional Affairs and leader of the Arizona-Mexico Commission. “It's these kinds of collaborative cross-border solutions that help us ensure that our infrastructure and our region are as safe as possible.”

The safety corridor will be enforced by Mexican law enforcement and military officials. ADOT is providing training for those officials based on the agency’s experience clearing crashes and restoring traffic flow on Arizona highways.

Tim Lane, director of ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division, said the idea came up when ADOT officials were in Hermosillo, Sonora, providing training that helps truck drivers better understand and prepare for safety inspections conducted at ADOT’s commercial ports of entry.

“We started talking about creating a safety corridor, and leaders from both Arizona and Sonora liked the idea right away,” Lane said. “We hope to learn from each other and make a safer environment for everyone.”

Other plans for the safety corridor on Mexico Route 8 include road signs with safety messages in Spanish and English and a pilot program that will have Sonora sharing information from that area to 511 and ADOT’s Arizona Traveler Information site az511.gov.

Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point, is a popular destination for Arizonans. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, more than 910,000 people entered Arizona at Lukeville during the first 10 months of 2017, many of them Arizonans returning from visits to Rocky Point.