SAFFORD — Pamila Bigler is asking for the public’s help to make U.S. Highway 70 safer.
Bigler and family are hosting the Highway Justice Event at Safford’s Firth Park on Saturday, June 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“It is for community awareness and to bring people out to sign our petition, so that we can take (it) to local and state representatives,” Bigler said. “We’re trying to make a change on Highway 70, from here to Globe. My end goal is a divided highway.”
She said she’d also like to see a greater law enforcement presence on the roadway, improved safety pullouts and shoulders, and more DUI checkpoints.
Bigler lost her parents, David and Sharon Clonts, and her adult son, David Ostberg, last April, when the vehicle they were traveling in on Highway 70 was involved in a two-vehicle collision at milepost 274, on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. The driver of the other vehicle also died in the crash.
The incident is being investigated by the San Carlos Apache Police Department, which has not yet publically released any findings related to the crash. The only communication was issued April 15 on the department’s Facebook page, when the department alerted motorists that both east- and westbound lanes of Highway 70 were closed for an extended period of time due to a “major accident.”
Bigler said she is also speaking to the Graham County Board of Supervisors, seeking the board’s support for her effort, during the Supervisors’ regular meeting Monday, June 19, at 8 a.m., at the Graham County General Services Building.
Highways 70 and 191 are state roadways and improvements or changes to the roadways fall under the jurisdiction of the Arizona Department of Transportation.
In ADOT’s Tentative 2024-28 five-year construction plan, there are four projects planned for Graham County:
● $18.2 million for roadway rehabilitation of U.S. Highway 70, from Reay Lane to 8th Street, with design in 2024 and construction in 2026
● $226,000 for signal upgrades on U.S. Highway 70; locations were not specified
● $161,000 to upgrade the signal cabinets on Highways 70 and 191
● $4.5 million to construct two, three-quarter-of-a-mile passing lanes on U.S. Highway 191, between mileposts 133 and 136, with design in 2024 and construction in 2026
