DOUGLAS, Ariz. (KGUN) — The city of Douglas is using a Safe Streets for All grant to conduct walking audits to assess walkability and identify safety improvements across the city.
The audits are being conducted over three days in different parts of the city, with the final audit scheduled for Wednesday morning.
I joined auditors for one of their assessments on Fifth Street — an area close to the border where many people cross over to shop. The audit surfaced recommendations about changes that could make the area safer for both pedestrians and drivers.
Dan Burden, Innovation and Inspiration Director for Blue Zones, said the existing road infrastructure presents several problems.
"The roads are way overbuilt. Heat, solar heat gain, drainage issues, which we really saw today. If we had the right number of lanes, the traffic would move better."
Among the recommendations made during the Fifth Street audit was reducing the number of travel lanes to create more space for walkers and cyclists.
Karl Rockwell, City of Douglas Public Works Director and City Engineer, said the changes could also benefit the city's budget.
"The narrower the streets would actually reduce our overall expense of keeping our streets up too."
Rockwell said the goal of the grant-funded audits is to bring in outside expertise to guide spending decisions.
"Getting professionals to really give us a really good idea how best to spend our money to make our streets safer."
Douglas Mayor Jose Grijalva, who walks to get around the city, said the problems are already visible — from cracked sidewalks to limited crosswalks.
"When I was just walking from the Gadsden parking lot to the gym, there's a bunch of holes there. So, I mean, this is stuff we should already know."
Grijalva said an outside perspective may help move the city to act on issues residents have long noticed.
"Maybe we need an outside perspective of telling staff, 'Hey, you need to do this because your constituents want this.'"
Ryan Wozniak, Senior Transportation Planner for TYLin, said the audits are guided by a focus on protecting the most at-risk road users.
"We always think about who is the most vulnerable users of the road, and we want to bring more attention to what's causing serious injuries and fatalities, both to pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists."
The auditors will provide recommendations to city staff, which are expected to include lowering speeds in parts of the city. It will be up to the city to decide whether to act on those recommendations.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
