On Tuesday evening, the Tucson Mayor and Council held a public hearing for comments on the 30% Broadway Corridor improvement project, named for its 30% reduction in scope that was sent for concept design on June 9, 2015, to the Tucson Department of Transportation. The meeting outgrew its normal meeting space and was moved to the Pima County Board of Supervisors meeting room that holds 250 people. The room still wasn’t large enough, and had to proceed with standing room only.
The 30% Broadway Improvement Project reduced the number of buildings to be demolished from 87 to 50, from eight to six lanes, with bike lanes, bus pull outs, sidewalks and landscaping, taking into account all the recommendations made by the prior Citizen Task Forces.
Comments were heard for over an hour on the 30% Plan, with much repetition in talking points from those opposed to the project. However, the conversation needs to continue and we encourage those who were unable to speak at this public forum to submit their comments for publication as an open letter to Mayor and Council’s consideration in their decision-making to be made on April 19th.
Gary Andros, a property owner from the area who will be affected by the road widening, was one who was not called to speak to Mayor and Council of the City of Tucson. Gary had this to say:
Mr. Mayor and Members of the Council,
I’ve heard it said that ‘all decisions are good decisions, just some are better than others’. We all have different opinions and that’s fine; it makes us human. That said, at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, it became abundantly clear that the goal of some Tucsonans present was not to discuss how best to complete the voter-approved project, but rather to attempt to sway City Council to override the vote and cancel the project.
During the meeting, Councilman Steve Kozachik stated that he ‘does not believe it makes sense to incur the cost of expansion so that people can leave downtown one minute faster in twenty years’. In reality, the travel time information provided by the staff was taken out of context in this statement. What they actually said was that if the current proposed expansion were to take place, eastbound traffic in 20 years would still progress one minute faster than it does today, implying that it would progress even faster in the interim. They also stated that their modeling software would not accept current conditions as applied to the predicted traffic patterns of twenty years from now, as it simply showed the street as “gridlocked”.
The existing congestion causes a number of problems, one of which is the difficulty of merging with Broadway traffic in the first place. Trying to turn left (west) during the day, one is forced to wait for minutes. If you are lucky, a pedestrian might use a crosswalk to stop traffic momentarily and allow you to make your turn. On the south side of Broadway there are many commercial businesses with large trucks. These trucks have to work their way through small side streets, exit onto Campbell and then turn onto Broadway at the light just to join the seemingly endless line of vehicles. Turning east onto Broadway from southbound Campbell is also quite difficult.
Realistically, only three cars will get through the light before it changes. When you are finally on Broadway, traffic is reduced to a single lane as soon as a bus stops. If you are unlucky enough to be behind that bus, you will likely be there until the nearest light behind you turns red and pauses the line of vehicles on the inside lane long enough for you to pass.
We have six lanes east of Country Club and six lanes west of Euclid. Why allow a four lane bottleneck to exist in-between? When I moved to Tucson in 1985, a bypass highway was the topic of discussion. It was replaced with the promise of larger interior arterial roads. The citizens of Tucson voted and expansion of Broadway was approved. To not proceed is to tell Tucson voters that their votes have no meaning or value.
The most common point brought forth by the opposition was that historic buildings along Broadway should be protected. As a contractor and a real estate broker, I have seen many so called “historic buildings” designated as such as a ploy to limit property taxes.
Many of the properties along the corridor in question are not maintained, and still more are obsolete for the requirements of today's commercial tenants.
Furthermore, City of Tucson codes regarding change of use for a certificate of occupancy may restrict the utilization of many existing structures and parking. Historic buildings of merit have already been identified and protected.
Regarding the buildings that have not received protected status, I’m of the opinion that if you bury a tin can and dig it up two hundred years later, it may be historic, but it’s still just a tin can.
Thanks for listening,
Gary Andros
This project is a Regional Transportation Authority Plan roadway improvement managed by the City of Tucson that will widen Broadway: Euclid to Country Club to a 6-lane arterial, with bike lanes, sidewalks, and landscape. The project is currently in the design phase. Acquisition is to begin in 2016. Construction is not anticipated until late 2017-2018.
Visit the project's Design and Construction web site at www.broadwayboulevard.info for the most current information, to find contact emails and phone numbers, and to provide comments. Details about the RTA plan are available at www.RTAmobility.com.
It’s not too late to be heard, questions and comments can be submitted to the Tucson Department of Transportation before April 15th. Take 1-2 minutes now and submit a quick “I support the Broadway 30% plan” by clicking on the following link: https://www.broadwayboulevard.info/comments.php