Traffic Task Force scheduled to “get on the road”

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Maricopa’s first Traffic Task Force was the focus of the Public Safety Advisory Committee’s meeting Monday. “Calling it (traffic problems) a big enough issue that it’s important to a lot of people,” committee member Carl Dietrich noted that he expected a great deal of interest in the task force.

Vice-Mayor Brent Murphree, who chairs the committee, indicated that several parties are interested in being part of the Traffic Task Force. He expressed concern about the effectiveness of the committee without at least some involvement on the part of city staff. “Initially we’ll be brainstorming,” explained Murphree, “but we need vision outside the box, and staff knows the process for getting things done.”

“Traffic is a constituency issue, not a staff issue,” added Dietrich. “We need to recognize the problems and try to fix them.” As an example, he noted the hesitancy of homeowners’ associations to enforce parking violations until there is a municipal code in place. According to committee member Greg Morrow, police or sheriff’s deputies can only enforce city ordinances, not association rules.

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Public Safety Committee members (from left) Vice-Mayor Brent Murphree, Greg Morrow and Carl Diedrich work on plans for the Traffic Task Force.
Not pictured are Cindy Inskeep and Joe Trujillo.

“I don’t want this (the task force) to be for complaints; we want to get something done,” said Murphree. Morrow added that some changes would be relatively inexpensive, such as illuminating speed change signs.

At the Traffic Task Force’s first meeting, scheduled for Thursday, August 3, 5 p.m. at the Public Works facility, participants will be establishing the purpose for the group and its focus.

One of the ways the task force may be able to impact traffic problems is to make it easier and safer for emergency vehicles to run calls. Emergency Medical Services Coordinator Cindy Inskeep informed the group that Maricopa Fire doubled their EMS calls in June from the same month last year. Southwest now has a second ambulance dedicated to Maricopa, and, as of August 1, the fire department will add 24 new firefighters.

Communication needs during an emergency were discussed, in part as a result of the telephone and Internet outage (see related press release) last Saturday. Should a true disaster occur, how would residents know where to go or how to proceed? Those very pressing issues may become part of the city’s emergency plan or be assigned to a special task force.