The Pima County Department of Transportation (PCDOT), along with the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) is proud to announce the completion of the final phase of the Valencia Road Corridor and commemorates the highlights of the project features on this YouTube video.
The $26.2 million two year construction project to improve 2.85 miles of Valencia Road widened the existing roadway from two lanes to four lanes, added drainage improvements and a raised and landscaped center median. It also included public artwork by Jason E. Butler, who built the steel shade structures and Hirotsune Tashima, who created the life-like desert creatures, bike lanes in each direction and a multi-use pathway for pedestrians. “PCDOT is proud to have completed the final segment of Valencia Road. Prior to the project, significant amounts of stormflow from the Black Wash would impact the earlier at grade two lane roadway causing local residents to have difficulty traveling thru the area,” recalled Paul Bennett, PCDOT Project Delivery Division Manager. “As the project was nearing completion and certainly now, you can see people out walking and using the new pathway that runs along the south side of Valencia, stopping and posing for photos with the artwork.”
Valencia Road is a major east west arterial on the southwest side of the Tucson metropolitan area and is designated as a Scenic Major Route in the Pima County Major Streets and Routes Plan. This portion of Valencia Road is located within the Pima County Board of Supervisors District 3. “The completion of Phase II of the voter approved Regional Transportation Authority project on Valencia Road from Wade Road to Ajo Highway completes construction on the Valencia Road Corridor from Mark Road to Ajo Highway (SR 86) providing all-weather access and multi-modal transportation improvements along this important regional corridor from Ajo Highway to Interstate-19,” said Sharon Bronson, District 3 Supervisor. “These efforts will improve safety, reduce congestion and increase mobility for current and future traffic needs.”
The RTA's Roadway Improvement Plan, which was approved by Pima County voters in May 2006, proposed that this existing two-lane arterial be designed as a "desert parkway" and provide multi-modal transportation improvements. The total project area encompasses approximately 5.5 miles to improve the Valencia Road Corridor from Mark Road to Ajo Highway (SR 86) and delivers an improved multimodal corridor for the Pima County community.
For detailed information and background on the Valencia Road: Wade Road to Ajo Way please visit the Pima County Department of Transportation’s projects page. And here for more about the RTA http://RTAmobility.com