Peoria begins safety pilot program after student fatality at intersection

By Philip Haldiman
Mail | Twitter: @PhilipHaldiman

Peoria has begun a pilot program to increase safety at the intersection of 98th Avenue and Deer Valley Road as a result of a Peoria Unified pedestrian vehicle fatality earlier this year.

The program is a speed reduction zone on Deer Valley Road while school is in session.

Variable speed limit signs and radar feedback signs have been installed, and the speed limit has been changed from 40 mph to 30 mph when school is in session.

Principal Traffic Engineer Chris Lemka said high visibility ladder crosswalks have been installed across Deer Valley Road at 95th and 98th avenues. Additionally, traffic signal backplates have been wrapped with a 3-inch diamond grade yellow retroflective tape. He said a signal backplate is a five-inch border around the signal heads that provides a visual contrast between the signal indications — red, yellow, green — and the surrounding environment.

An automobile struck Sunset Heights Elementary School student River Jaice Argame March 9 in the intersection at 98th Avenue and Deer Valley Road. He was taken to the hospital, but died about two weeks later.

The loss hit home with many students and parents because Argame walked to Liberty High School from Sunset Heights in the mornings for a first-hour class, and was hit in the crosswalk.

Eighth-grader Isabella Mahl spoke publicly about the tragedy and said Argame’s death should be memorialized.

Mahl said she and her classmates collected signatures from all eighth-graders and the majority of the seventh-graders to support making that area safer.

“We believe precautions should be put in place (at the intersection),” Mahl said. “We want the school board and city council to discuss how to make the road safer.”

The city government, who has control over public road improvements in Peoria, responded.

The pilot program will include a before and after assessment to measure the effectiveness at slowing travel speeds on Deer Valley Road with the variable speed limit and radar feedback signs.

Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on Twitter @philiphaldiman. We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.

Philip Haldiman
Senior News Editor | Peoria
@PhilipHaldiman

phaldiman@iniusa.org

Meet Philip
Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.

Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.

Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater. 

Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.

Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.