Tucson Standard

Published on June 17, 2024

Protecting the traveling public on city streets during Tucson’s summer thunderstorm season is the objective of the City of Tucson Department of Transportation and Mobility’s (DTM) Operation Splash campaign. As weather patterns shift to bring moisture into Tucson, crews from DTM’s Streets Maintenance Division will deliver and stage barricades at hundreds of dip crossings throughout the city, beginning today, June 17, 2024.

During Monsoon, DTM Street Maintenance staff will be on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week through mid-September. As washes flood, crews will close roadways at dip crossings and washes using more than 500 barricades that will be placed on the side of the roadways near the crossings.

For the ninth consecutive year, DTM will assist residents concerned with flooding by offering free self-serve sandbags in the east parking lot of Hi Corbett Field, 700 S. Randolph Way, at Reid Park. DTM staff will monitor the weather forecast as well as the National Weather Service to open the self-serve sandbag program ahead of the first forecasted storm to ensure the community is prepared. This location will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Sand and sandbags will be provided by DTM staff, and residents should bring their own shovel. To accommodate as many residents as possible with sandbags, there is a limit of 10 sandbags per vehicle.

Be sure to follow DTM on social media to be informed about the opening of the self-serve sandbag program. Since the sandbag program began in 2016, DTM has distributed approximately 177,200 sandbags to the community.

In the event that severe weather is forecasted in the region, DTM staff will initiate Operation Splash and mobilize to monitor dip crossings and washes. By monitoring radar from the National Weather Service in Tucson and the Pima County Regional Flood Control District ALERT System, staff may also begin barricading dip crossings in anticipation of incoming stormwater.

All low-lying areas in Tucson are subject to flooding during summer thunderstorms. The goal of this program is to ensure motorists do not enter flooded roadways. Remember that a barricade in place on a roadway indicates unsafe conditions ahead. After floodwaters recede, Streets Maintenance crews evaluate roadway conditions and remove any hazardous debris accumulation.

Motorists encountering traffic signals that are out due to power outages should treat intersections as four-way stops and come to a complete stop before entering.

Follow DTM on social media for up-to-date information on sandbag stations going into place as well as road closures during monsoon season.

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City of Tucson

255 W. Alameda St.

Tucson, Arizona 85701