On game nights in downtown Phoenix, the few blocks between the arenas and the ballpark turn into a full-contact sport of their own. That stretch of streets, from roughly First Avenue to Seventh Street east to west and Jackson Avenue to Fillmore Street north to south, has now been ranked the fifth-riskiest public roadway in the United States. When the Suns, Diamondbacks or a major concert are in town, cars, trains and fans all pile in at once, putting event-night traffic and light-rail crossings under a fresh microscope for drivers and city planners trying to keep people moving and safe.
Where the ranking came from
The ranking was first reported by the Phoenix New Times, which attributes the list to Lytx’s 2026 Road Safety Report. According to that local coverage, it is the first time Phoenix has landed in the Top 5 riskiest public roadways in the Lytx rankings.
The data behind the list
According to Lytx, the company sifted through more than 126 billion minutes of video and analyzed over 217 million driving events for its 2026 report. The firm says its global database covers more than 341 billion miles of driving from roughly 6.3 million drivers, and that it uses that stockpile of trips to flag high-risk road segments and broader national trends.
Why this stretch ranked high
Spikes in both pedestrian and vehicle traffic during games and concerts, the one-way street patterns in the area and nearby light-rail crossings are all likely factors pushing risk higher, the Phoenix New Times reports. The New Times also notes that downtown Phoenix is the only Top 5 roadway on the Lytx list that is not next to a major airport, while the other four riskiest spots cluster around airports. That mix of people, cars and trains creates short, intense bursts of exposure when events let out and everyone heads for the exits at once.
City plans and Vision Zero
The city has been rolling out a data-driven Road Safety Action Plan that leans on Vision Zero principles and a High Injury Network to prioritize fixes, according to the City of Phoenix. The plan, approved by the City Council in 2022, directs funding and engineering work to corridors with the most severe crashes, giving officials a framework to zero in on hotspots by the stadiums. Within that setup, any changes on the downtown block could range from tweaks to crosswalk timing and curb extensions to more tailored special event traffic management.
What experts say
“The 2026 Road Safety Report spotlights not only the significant victories we've secured but also the formidable risks that persist,” Lytx CEO Chris Cabrera said in the company’s release, noting that minor collisions are still increasing even as the most serious crashes level off. Lytx argues that its data should be used to target safety interventions where they will have the biggest impact, and this compact downtown corridor gives planners a sharply defined place to start. For drivers and fans, the near-term message is straightforward: expect congestion, and keep a close eye out for pedestrians and trains on big event nights.
City staff, transit agencies and the teams that call downtown home are likely to be watching the numbers closely as they consider low-cost fixes and debate whether larger redesigns are needed. The Lytx report underlines that even a short stretch of asphalt can carry outsized risk when people, vehicles and transit all collide in the same tight space, and downtown Phoenix now has the data to back that up.
