Speeding tourists a concern in Western Agency, police hear
Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero
Navajo Route 20, shown here, has become a thoroughfare for tourists, LeChee, Arizona, residents complained at a police listening session over the weekend.
LECHEE and TUBA CITY, Ariz.
It’s not news the Navajo Nation Police severely lacks manpower.
What is news is that residents of LeChee say their road, Navajo Route 20, known as Coppermine Road, has become “The Road” for tourists from all over the world.
Ever since U.S. Highway 89 collapsed 25 miles south of Page in 2013, residents say the road, with a section that was once 27 miles of dirt, was paved to accommodate the flow of traffic into Page.
Six years later, as told by Michael Bigman at a police listening session over the weekend, drivers do not obey the 55 mph and 40 mph speed limits and have little regard for school buses and merging vehicles. Even with Highway 89 having been reopened, it has done nothing to alleviate the through-traffic.
Joanne Yazzie agreed. “N-20 is a really high traffic area,” Yazzie said.
“Google Maps shows foreign visitors this route. And they’re high speeders. “These are bus stops, those are issues that we need to be concerned with for the safety of our community,” she said.
To read the full article, pick up your copy of the Navajo Times at your nearest newsstand Thursday mornings!
Are you a digital subscriber? Read the most recent three weeks of stories by logging in to your online account.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow