Broadway Widening Update

The city of Tucson released updated design plans for the Broadway widening project between Euclid and Country Club this week.

Plans have not significantly changed from the previous version to this most recent update, called the “60 percent design,” said the Department of Transportation’s Shellie Ginn.

“We’re still looking at the same number of takes, which is 27,” she said.

A “take” refers to a building that will be demolished as a result of the widening.

“I think there’s always a portion of our community who’s interested in not having any buildings demolished,” she said. “We have worked really hard to try to minimize that number from the original eight lanes reducing it down to six lanes.”

But, she said, it would be impossible to widen the roadway without demolitions.

The latest design plan has more detail about where sidewalks will be placed and construction easements will go, and the next two versions will provide more detail.

Ginn said the design should be finalized by the end of 2017. Work to move electricity and phone lines will happen next year, and construction is expected to begin in 2019.

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Tucson’s Greyhound Bus terminal has a permanent home for the first time since 2002.

A Tuesday ribbon-cutting ceremony opened the new location at the southeast corner of Broadway Boulevard and Euclid Avenue. Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District owns the site, and is leasing it to Greyhound.

The chair of the Rio Nuevo board thinks Greyhound’s new building is in a prime location, given the development that is happening around it.

“This is kind of Grand Central for us, no pun intended, in terms of the Sunshine Mile going east, downtown going west. All of this is Rio Nuevo geography, and we’re pleased to be involved,” said Fletcher McCusker.

Two major road projects are slated for the area in the future: a widening of Broadway between Euclid and Country Club Road and the Downtown Links project, which will connect Barraza-Aviation Parkway and Interstate 10 at 6th Street.

Rio Nuevo and Greyhound examined 12 sites around Tucson, and this was the company’s first choice, according to company regional manager Ed Van Heel.

Greyhound had been housed in a temporary space near Congress Street and I-10 and prior to that the terminal was at Congress and Broadway for more than three decades. The former Greyhound stop is now the site of student housing.

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TUCSON, Arizona — Join the City of Tucson Department of Transportation (TDOT) and the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) to review and discuss the 60% design plans for Broadway Boulevard between Euclid Avenue and Country Club Road.

Open House – Project Update  Thursday, March 9, 2017
5:30 – 7:00 p.m. at Sabbar Shrine Temple, located at 450 S Tucson Blvd.

Project staff will be on hand to answer questions, provide information, and gather input on landscape and streetscape designs. There will be information tables on the construction schedule, land use efforts, public art, real estate, and business assistance.

The project is part of the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) Plan roadway improvement managed by the City of Tucson that will widen Broadway from Euclid to Country Club to a 6–lane arterial roadway, with bike lanes and sidewalks with bus pullouts where appropriate.

Construction is not anticipated until 2018.

For more information about the Broadway Boulevard, Euclid to Country Club project, please visit the project at www.broadwayboulevard.info or call the info line at 520.622.0815.

Tucson Mayor and City Council approved an agreement with the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) to move forward funding on the Broadway Improvement Project in a 5-1 vote on Tuesday evening.

After years of design study, Councilman Steve Kozachik favored another six-month delay for more study and was the sole vote in opposition to moving forward. Councilwoman Regina Romero was absent from the meeting because of a family emergency, making the vote 5-1.

The vote approves the City to accept $18 million from the RTA and to begin negotiations to buy needed properties along this major gateway to Downtown Tucson.

Tucson can now move forward with the purchase of these needed properties along Broadway east of downtown, from Euclid to Country Club Road, also affectionately called the ‘Sunshine Corridor’ for the road-widening project.

Construction of the roadway is to begin in 2017-2018.

During the call to the audience, Broadway property owner Richard Rose described himself as a “hostage” to the years of discussions about how to widen the major arterial street. Having already purchased another building to relocate his business, Rose believes the City needed to honor its promises to the business owners.

That struck a chord with Councilmember Richard Fimbres, who represents some of the neighborhoods south of Broadway who agreed the city needs to start working with those property owners.

Fimbres said he has seen the compromise happen, going from an 8-lane to a six-lane widening and now, “I think we need to move this thing forward,” he said.

Mayor Jonathan Rothschild encouraged the divided public not to think of compromise as a bad word. He said moving forward will allow the city to work with property owners to save as many buildings as possible.

No plan is perfect, Rothschild said, but more than $4 million has already been spent on planning, design and engineering, and “I’m not going to support throwing that money away.”