TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – The City of Tucson, Pima Association of Governments, and Regional Transportation Authority are partnering together to improve First Avenue from River Rd to Grant Rd.
But first, the partnership is going to let the community speak its mind with two open houses scheduled next week.
“At this point, we’re just listening,” said Patrick Hartley, interim planning administrator for Tucson Department of Transportation and Mobility.
He explained that the First Avenue Project was originally included in the 2006 RTA plan, and was scheduled to break ground sometime around 2020 to widen the road to six lanes. However, after re-evaluating for investment needs, they found that traffic along the corridor has decreased over the past 15 years, making the lane widening superfluous.
Instead, the assessment caught something else.
“There has been a marked uptick in crashes, and particularly serious crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists along First Avenue,” Hartley said.
He added that due to this uptick, the project has been reframed to replace the Rillito Bridge, and focus on safety for pedestrians and bicyclists.
And it’s the reason they are going to the community for input.
Dave Boston, a clerk at the Water Street Station along First Avenue, said he’s eager to see the project address drainage; the right lane suffers deep flooding during heavy rains.
There has been mention of putting a median along the entire three mile stretch, which Boston is not sure is the right solution — but he’s glad there is an open forum for businesses like his to voice their opinions.
“Well it saves them a lot of, a lot of trouble. You know they don’t have to go in behind later and redo stuff,” Boston said. “You know they get it right the first time. And um that’s, I think will work pretty well on this project.”
Improvements are estimated to cost somewhere between 130 to 140 million dollars, most of which will be funded through the RTA.
The in-person open house is scheduled for Wednesday, October 9, and a virtual one is on Thursday, October 10. You can find more information here.
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