The Tucson Department of Transportation will officially begin their Operation Splash campaign in preparation for the summer thunderstorm season.
TDOT's objective through Operation Splash is to make sure drivers do not enter flooded roadways.
Crews from TDOT's Streets and Traffic Maintenance Division will deliver more than 500 barricades to 150 dip crossings throughout Tucson this week at 6:30 a.m. each day.
Residents concerned with flooding can pick up free sandbags in the north parking lot of the Tucson Rodeo Grounds every Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., starting on June 13th and until the Operation Plash Program ends in mid-September.
A self-serve sandbag site will open on Monday, June 11 in the east parking lot of Hi Corbett Field, 700 S. Randolph Way, at Reid Park, and will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Residents should bring their own shovel. Sand and sandbags will be provided by TDOT. There is a limit of 10 sandbags per vehicle.
If severe weather is expected in the region, TDOT staff may also barricade dip crossing in anticipation of incoming floodwater. Crews will also barricade dip crossings that are flowing with storm water.
During Operation Splash, crews are on call day and night to assist with placing barricades at flooded washes and dip crossings.
TDOT wants to remind residents that a barricade in place on a roadway is a sign that unsafe conditions exist ahead. After the floodwater recedes, street and traffic maintenance crews begin evaluating conditions of the roadway and remove any accumulation of hazardous debris.
