Friends and Neighbors,
The City of Tucson, in partnership with Pima County, requested a Road Safety Assessment (RSA) be conducted by the Pima Association of Governments (PAG) along Mary Ann Cleveland Way. PAG has accepted our request and will be conducting the RSA along the entire 5-mile stretch of Mary Ann Cleveland Way, both in the City and the County limits. The RSA will be conducted the week of April 17 with findings ready by the end of the month. The findings of the RSA will provide recommendations to address safety concerns observed by the consultants performing the field review.
Some residents have reached out to the Ward 4 Council Office requesting Mary Ann Cleveland Way to be widened. The widening of Mary Ann Cleveland Way to a 4-lane divided road is estimated to cost $50 million, $35 million in the City, and $15 million in the County. That is why regional leaders, including me, have continuously recommended Mary Ann Cleveland Way to be a potential project for the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) Next, as it’s a perfect candidate for regional road funding. The RTA was put in place by the voters of Tucson to specifically fund regional road projects. The RTA is currently going through the process of identifying what roads they feel should be funded on the RTA Next renewal as there are currently more projects on the draft RTA Next project list than there is expected revenue, so the draft list is currently being reduced and prioritized by both the RTA Technical Management Committee (TMC), and the RTA Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC).
Below is a public statement I made in January:
At last night’s Mayor & Council meeting, I reinforced our community’s priorities for road projects for a potential RTA Next program. My comments were based on Attachment C: City of Tucson RTA Next Priority Project Status 1/11/23. I’ve continued to bring your concerns to the Mayor & Council table, to city staff, and RTA leadership, and continue to advocate for projects and investments in our area to support our needs as we continue to grow.
The 4 main priorities I shared at the January 24th Mayor & Council meeting were:
Widen Mary Ann Cleveland Way to a 4-lane divided roadway
Widen Colossal Cave Road to a 4-lane divided roadway
Widen Harrison Road to a 4-lane roadway from Irvington to Golf Links
Widen Irvington to a 4-lane divided roadway from Houghton to Kolb
All these projects, and many others, are currently being discussed by the RTA as they create their list of projects to fund, should Pima County Voters approve another RTA program. I encourage you to participate in the process and advocate for infrastructure and investment that you recognize we need in our region. The meetings are all public and include opportunities for you to speak and share your concerns and vision for our infrastructure. They need to hear your voice and we highly encourage you to participate and make sure the RTA Board knows exactly what we care about in our area.
Go to https://rtanext.com/ to find out more information on the RTA Next and committee meeting dates.
If you are interested in attending or speaking at “Call to the Audience” at a future RTA Next meeting, you can contact the RTA via Paki Rico, prico@pagregion.com.
I am committed to working collaboratively with Mayor Romero, Supervisor Christy, and everyone involved in advocating for our area as we work together to bring in proper investments to support our needs in Ward 4, Vail, Corona De Tucson, and the surrounding unincorporated areas of Pima County that makeup the Southeast growth corridor.
In closing, I want to encourage everyone who would like to advocate for projects that impact us in the Southeast region to please provide your input to the RTA Next committee members. I am one (loud and repetitive) voice, and the more folks who chime in, the better chance we have to see these important projects get traction.
