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AZ lowers speed limit on dusty stretch of I-10

Posted at 11:43 AM, May 02, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-02 17:22:39-04

Arizona officials are asking drivers to slow down on a highway near the New Mexico border after dust storms caused several car crashes.

The speed limit on a stretch of Interstate 10 between Bowie and San Simon has been reduced from 75 mph to 45 mph, The Arizona Daily Star reported. State Department of Transportation and Department of Public Safety officials also said they will quickly close the road if conditions warrant it.

"We're going to be shutting the interstate down sooner. We're not going to be taking any chances," said DPS spokesman Trooper Kameron Lee.

Several crashes occurred on the highway on Monday and Thursday, near land that was stripped of vegetation last year. Dust from the area also caused a two-vehicle crash on April 7, according to ADOT engineer Bill Harmon.

Officials say there have been no fatalities so far, although a Monday crash left a truck driver seriously injured. Three minor injuries were also reported on Thursday, when 13 vehicles were involved in three separate crashes, said Lee.

The National Weather Service recorded wind gusts up to 45 mph in the area on Monday and Thursday. Lee said officials were told Friday that dust from the desert plot can become airborne if the wind is blowing at just 15 mph.

University of Arizona meteorologist Mike Leuthold travels the stretch of highway regularly and said he predicted this would become an issue after noticing dust blowing across the road this winter.

"I said, `This is going to be a problem.' They bladed the desert completely of all vegetation in preparation for planting groves," said Leuthold.  He estimated the plot to be about 200 acres.

State officials say they don't know who owns the land but are hoping to find out and urge mitigation measures. But Harmon said they have no legal authority to require such actions.