by Steve Christy
It would be an honor for me – if chosen to be your County Supervisor – to use my experience in serving on and chairing the boards of the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) and Arizona State Transportation Board to help solve transportation issues related to areas in and around Vail.
I believe the RTA, since its inception in 2006, is the most successful regional model we have to adequately address our roads cri
sis. From intersection improvements to bus pullouts, bike lanes to sidewalks, pedestrian crossings to roadway corridors, the RTA has been a dynamic regional model. But maintenance was never included in the RTA plan. It was supposed to be the responsibility of jurisdictions (which, of course, no longer have sufficient funds to take care of this). My plan is to include maintenance in a voter re-authorization RTA plan – prioritizing maintenance issues on existing projects.
Overall, the RTA must be the model for future solutions to our road crisis. If you believe that past performance is an indicator of what will happen in the future, I ask you look at past and future RTA projects in the Vail area. And please consider how – as your County Supervisor – I can help even more.
COMPLETED VAIL RTA PROJECTS:
Sahuarita Rd/Houghton Rd intersection
Marsh Station Bridge resurfaced
Julian Wash/Colossal Cave bike lanes and paths
Houghton Road improvements (with more to come)
FUTURE RTA PLANS:
Wilmot Rd from I-10 to Sahuarita Rd (construction this summer)
Valencia Rd/Kolb intersection (construction to start this year)
Mary Ann Cleveland Way to I-10 (construction to start this year – enhanced by ADOT’s I-10 Houghton R traffic interchange project)
Enhanced “HAWK” pedestrian crossing at Cush Canyon
