Background
The live website Switch Lanes section makes a qualitative case. Phoenix PD calls-for-service + City road safety data now let us make a defensible quantitative case alongside it, without exposing the campaign to a 'cherry-picked the comparison' rebuttal.
Two earlier framings died in audit: (1) '~3× the crashes of comparable streets' — cherry-picked the three quietest D4 streets. (2) 'switch lanes uniquely cause head-on collisions' — Phoenix's KSI data shows 1 of 51 D4 head-ons on switch corridors (2%). The defensible claims below are what survives audit.
Proposed insert into 'Switch Lanes & Transportation' section
Position: after the existing opening paragraph ('The switch lanes on 7th Avenue and 7th Street reverse direction…'), before the bullet list ('Remove the switch lanes…').
- 2 of the 10 District 4 intersections that meet Phoenix's High Injury Network threshold sit on these two streets. Both corridors are flagged on the City's 2024 HIN.
- A crash every 11 hours on these two streets, every day, for the last five years.
- 15 traffic deaths since 2020. All 15 at intersections.
- E Devonshire Avenue & N 7th Street alone has produced two fatalities since 2021.
Switch lanes are the only road design in District 4 that legally puts oncoming traffic in your lane at rush hour. That's the design choice we are asking the city to walk back.
Source: Phoenix Police calls-for-service + City of Phoenix STR_RoadSafety_2024 (2018–2022 KSI + High Injury Network).
Proposed 'Why Michael' footer edit (same section)
Current:
Michael drives the switch lanes on 7th Avenue. His husband rode the light rail to work at the airport every day. His house was broken into; it took four hours for police to arrive.
Proposed:
Michael drives the switch lanes on 7th Avenue. He's seen what 15 D4 traffic deaths since 2020 look like as a daily commute, not a statistic. His husband rode the light rail to work at the airport every day. His house was broken into; it took four hours for police to arrive.
The 2 D4 HIN intersections on switch corridors (canonical)
- W Camelback Rd & N 7th Ave — 8 KSI crashes, on HIN 2024
- E Virginia Ave & N 7th St — 7 KSI crashes, on HIN 2024
Other 8 D4 HIN intersections (NOT on switch corridors):
- W Camelback Rd & N 27th Ave (KSI=10)
- N 27th Ave & W Indian School Rd (KSI=7)
- W Indian School Rd & N 19th Ave (KSI=7)
- N 15th Ave & W Indian School Rd (KSI=7)
- W Indian School Rd & N 43rd Ave (KSI=6)
- W Thomas Rd & N 43rd Ave (KSI=6)
- W McDowell Rd & N 43rd Ave (KSI=6)
- E Indian School Rd & N 3rd St (KSI=6)
What I need from you on 4/27
- Approve the data callout above (verbatim or with edits) — to insert into the live Community Health, Safety & Transportation page.
- Approve the 'Why Michael' footer edit (adds the 15-deaths line).
- Acknowledge the AZDOT crash dataset is on hold. Phoenix's KSI dataset is loaded and queryable in MySQL (
ksi_crashes,hin_segments,hin_intersections). AZDOT crash data (with crash-type detail) would only matter if a future debate / mailer needs head-on collision rates — which the data so far does not support.
What we deliberately are NOT proposing
- 'Switch lanes are the most dangerous streets in D4' — false. They carry 5% of D4 KSI; Indian School, Camelback, McDowell, Thomas all have more.
- 'Switch lanes uniquely cause head-on collisions' — false. Switch corridor head-ons: 1 of D4's 51 head-on KSI.
- Per-mile / per-vehicle comparisons — switch corridors are middle of pack. Hermes camp would shred any volume comparison.