To say Tucson is a sprawling metropolitan area is an understatement. We're not as big as the Los Angeles area, nor even as sprawling as our neighbors to the north. We probably have a combination of factors to thank for our relative containment. We're surrounded on three sides by mountains and are ringed by federal, state, and reservation land. Yet our community is still quite broad, even given these limitations... and there are still possibilities for growth.
To our north and northwest lie Marana, Catalina, Oro Valley, and the yet to be recognized Tortolita. These areas saw a great deal of growth before the Development Crash. So too Vail to our east, and Avra Valley to our west. Then there is the nearby town of Sahuarita to our south. Even during the economic slow-down, that area continued to experience growth.
Combine these high-growth areas with other nearby communities ripe for expansion, and we have a perfect storm of explosive development and urban sprawl. That is why I contend that we need a comprehensive transportation plan in place NOW, and not later. Supposedly these plans are already in place, but lets take a look at past transportation development to see if ANY previously drafted plans will fill our communities' needs.
Barraza - Aviation Highway
When I first moved out to Southeast Arizona, Aviation was a sleepy road paralleling the Southern Pacific rail yards. It was a two-lane, poorly maintained surface street acting as a divider between the busy rail corridor and nearby neighborhoods. There were no fences, no walls, and little to no traffic. Then it was transformed in the early-mid 1990's into the 'highway' it is today.
Originally it was to skirt around the east side of downtown to eventually connect with I-10. As conceived, it was expected to handle a great deal of what would otherwise be surface-street traffic. With limited access points over much of its course, it should be the perfect Tucson freeway, however...
As many will tell you, it really handles little high capacity traffic. It parallels much of I-10, diverging only after it connects with Golf Links near Alvernon. In fact, Golf Links east of Barraza - Aviation is busier than B - A itself, funneling much of its traffic off I-10 via Alvernon. Perhaps if B - A were connected with I-10 instead of a mouldering downtown, it would see more use.
That's exactly what was supposed to happen, but objections from the Warehouse District businesses forced ADOT to scrap that idea, and now its left to the city to re-locate the B - A / I-10 interchange to the south of downtown via 22nd Street, at an estimated cost of 84.5 million dollars. Then there's ADOT's attempt to connect B - A to I-10 somewhere in the southeast portion of the city. It is nothing more than a study, currently, but could result in a connection in the not too distant future.
What does all of this mean to Tucson? 'A Whole Lotta Nada!' Such a highway will accomplish little to relieve pressure on our surface streets or our Interstate. It's about as useful as the Yellow Brick Road in Oz. "Hop on the road, head toward downtown, but ignore the bureaucrats behind the curtain..."
Modern Streetcar
The city began seriously looking into the idea of a modern streetcar in 2004, and by 2006 a route had been selected. It operates from vacant land west of I-10 near downtown, runs through the congested thoroughfares of downtown, up the 4th Ave. Business District, and makes a sharp dog-leg to the U of A. Seems like a great route... right?
True, there are a number of residential neighborhoods through which the streetcar runs. The RTA estimates about 100,000 people live within 1/2 mile from the route, but will they use the streetcar as a means of daily transportation? I surmise that relatively few downtown employees actually live near the streetcar. These are, often times, high paying, skilled positions... even the bureaucrats. Many of them live in the finer neighborhoods on the periphery of the city. So who's going to use it?
There are the U of A students... many of whom live within walking distance of the campus. Will they use it for classes? Probably not. Will they use it for shopping? Where... there are no malls on the route, nor are there any supermarkets that I'm aware of. Will they use it to go to 4th Ave.? Most certainly, but not for the fine dining, or the fine culture. They will probably go there for the partying!
Imagine it... the streetcar cruising about the hustle and bustle of night-time downtown Tucson, passing emptily past the TCC, the Fox Theater, and the fine restaurants that have managed to survive the construction. Once it reaches 4th Ave., it is inundated with liquefied college coeds, returning from the clubs and bars... thankfully the Modern Streetcar is ADA Accessible, so there are few steps for these inebriated throngs to stumble over.
Reeking of beer and hard spirits, and probably liberal amounts of putrid vomit, these high tech people movers will discharge their passengers, just in time to pick up another load to take back to Party Central! It is estimated that about 500 new jobs will be created by the Modern Streetcar, many of whom, I would surmise, will be cleaning the streetcars after the weekends!
I once had high hopes for a streetcar or light rail system for Tucson. I am a BIG rail advocate, in every way, shape, and form. Problem is, the system currently under construction seems destined for failure. It will be plagued by poor ridership, poor routing, and if our city's track record holds true, poor management. Here is an example, in my opinion, of the poor leadership yet to come.
If you go to the RTA's streetcar page, click on the FAQ page. One of the most asked questions I've heard throughout the community involves plans for expansion. Everyone I talk to wonder just when the streetcar will make it to their part of town... yet nowhere in the FAQ pages is this even addressed. There we have it folks, a Modern Streetcar to nowhere, with no plans to make it any different! I might be wrong, but I'm afraid in time, I'll just be proven right.
SunTran
In 1988, Sun Tran won "America's Best Transit System" from the American Public Transportation Association. They were proud of that distinction. It was advertised heavily on the radio and in the print media. It was a real feather in their cap. Seventeen years later, they repeated this feat... SEVENTEEN YEARS! If they were so good in 1988, then why did it take so long to do it again? And why wasn't there the huge media blitz about it in 2005? Did I just miss it?
Now, they tout their 2012 award, not for best system, but for increased ridership! Not really a huge surprise with gas prices so high and folks finding it increasingly more difficult to keep their cars on the road. Oh, and their new accolade isn't national, its statewide. Like being the hottest girl at a family reunion.
As the metro area has expanded, Sun Tran has been slow to respond. The Rita Ranch area had been developed for well over a decade, yet this year they made a huge deal over expanding service to this area with a new route! Do we have bus service to Vail? Sabino Canyon? Sahuarita? Until the powers that be do something constructive toward addressing service to these well populated, out-lying areas, no amount awards and kudos will make up for a deficient system.
Tucson Regional Freeway System
While I could just leave this area blank... just like our non-existent freeway system... I think it deserves some scrutiny. Since the mid-1980's when I was but a visitor in Arizona, much was said about a city-wide freeway system. Talk was that Houghton Road on the eastside would connect with a much improved River / Skyline corridor to create a limited access, high volume freeway skirting around the Tucson Metro Area.
The only opposition I was aware of at the time, was a rather vocal group claiming that such a freeway was going to promote city expansion into the desert. Have you been out there lately? What you have is a city that expanded into the desert WITHOUT the benefit of a freeway, and as a result, you have snarled traffic on congested surface streets. All the growth with none of the infrastructural benefits!
I would suggest that ADOT, Pima County Transportation, and the city begin looking at a regional freeway system once again. Alvernon / Hughes Access would make a pretty good southside freeway route, especially if it can connect to I-19. Houghton could still be a viable route over part of its length... alas too much development to the north end of this road has made its use deeper into the eastside of the city economically unattainable.
If Golf Links could be turned into a freeway from Houghton to Barraza - Aviation, it would then act as a really viable east-west corridor, and if an Alvernon / Hughes Access freeway could be extended up to Golf Links / B - A, then all of that would be tied in well, especially if a new access route to the airport via Los Reales was included in such a freeway plan.
As for a northside and central freeway... I'm just not sure such a plan could be completed without it costing an astronomical amount. Perhaps the Modern Streetcar could be put to good use in this region of the city, but once again, there appears to be no real future plans for this mode of transportation outside the current, highly flawed route.
So, what can we do about it all. So much to change and so few in local government seem to care. We could write, call, have meetings, and write blogs... guess its all we really can do. But if we do it as a group... an amalgam of voices... then we might be heard.
So, Lets Get Started!
we must rid the city of tea party people and use nuclear weapons if we have too
ReplyDelete>The roadways are no good to people who have lost their licences to the City Money laundry downtown, many, like myself, for things like parking tickets, non moving violations. I offered to do jail time and was turned down. Then I tried to do service at the Humane society and the Botanical gardens and a couple of other places but they were so backed up with other people trying to do community service they wouldn't even take my number. Without transportation to the outlying areas where the tourists attractions and the resorts are it is difficult to gain worthwhile employment. One of our city council members even admitted recently that 24,000 a year is poverty. All the little restaurants and little businesses the media loves to talk about as needing tax relief are the same ones who wont pay a reasonable living wage and steal tax dollars by coffee canning most of the profits from their business in the desert somewhere. Want some examples? email me.The city will pay something like 13 to 15 dollars and hour to cook at the jail, no restaurant in town will pay that, so you have 2 people doing the same job, for different benefits, and different set of paid days off which leaves the guy making shit wages paying for the other guy doing the very same thing. Every little shithead in town wants to drug test you so if you self medicate with pot you cant work there, but the PEOPLE voted clearly for medical M yet the Governor(government for the people by the people)refused to acknowledge the will of the people. Try to get some mental health in this God forsaken place and you will hit a brick wall too. No insurance, no help. No kids? No Access insurance. And if you are a guy you can jump in a lake because as far as the wealthy and the local government is concerned you have no worth and are offered 0 help. I have 6 maintenance meds I am supposed to be taking to avoid having a stroke but I cannot get my scrips filled, even at El Rio because although I have no income I am not yet homeless....let me see, should I freeze and bath at the library, or try and hang on to my shabby little home. I think they would like to take all of the non working folks and just put them in disintegration chambers.
ReplyDeleteIf you have an eviction on your record you cannot find a place to live, and then we have folks defecating and peeing where? Library s, front lawns, and every public restroom in the city becomes a public bathing spot. You cannot even get out of here because they will arrest you for hitchhiking.
Protect and serve?Not! The police are here for one reason and one reason only: to enforce the law and make sure they are gathering enough revenue from fines and imprisonments to see to it that TPD gets funded. We are a feudal society where the people working the land -so to speak- receive just enough to keep them from revolt.
It costs more to rent an apartment than it does to pay a mortgage but who can save enough on 8 or 9 or 10 dollars an hour to downpay on a home. But the sharks were there at the burst of the bubble to buy up cheap properties and rent them out for exorbitant rent or sit on them and get the tax rite-offs. Buildings stand empty all over town because it is more profitable in many cases to keep them empty and take the business loss deduction than it is to lower the rent to a reasonable amount. 460 ++ a month for a one bedroom apartment prone to bedbugs and roaches is a little much on ten bucks an hour.
continued:
ReplyDeleteANd how about the 200 dollar tax CREDIT?????? If you donate 200(400 for a couple) to any legitimate Non Profit in Az. You get a 200 dollar tax CREDIT. That means you get your 200 bucks back from the state, so who ends up paying the 200 dollars to the freakin non profit???People who didn't donate that is who!!!! The state takes my tax dollars and gives to some rich old fart who gave to a charity and then gets his money back from The State while you and I get screwed!!!!!!This state is full of crooks and people who have no love of America or they would step up. Churches should be taxed and non profits of all kinds should be held to a 20% administrative cost or be taxed too. They are money laundries for the rich and shameless. TEP recently donated 50,000 to charities here in town.But they want to shut me down for non payment. Where do you think that 50 grand went? Ill tell you : it went to freinds of freinds who run the non profits.
Toy trains are not going to help anything here either, new highways will only bring more cars. If you don't like the roads; walk, ride the bus or get a bicycle.
I have to admit, there is a bit of anger in both responses, and indeed, there is much to be angry about. I, for one, believe that one time tax credits CAN be in important tool for positive change, but unfortunately, not with our current governmental leadership. I vowed at the outset of this blog that I would try to remain a-political, and I will stick to my guns on this one. As a wise man once said, "Thats all I have to say about that!"
ReplyDeleteAs far as the last statement by Seagullgrey, "If you don't like the roads; walk, ride the bus or get a bicycle." I contend that without some MAJOR re-thinking with regards to public transportation and freeways, even busses become untenable. I don't know what part of town Seagullgrey lives in, but throughout this city, sidewalks are often little more than a dirt path adjacent to the roads, and having personally ridden countless hundreds of miles by bike, I can attest to how dangerous the streets of Tucson really are!
ALL of these issues would have to be addressed in a true, comprehensive transportation plan. To simply ignore them is to kick the can down the proverbial road for others to deal with in the future, a stunt that has served countless city councils well to date, but had done little to help our city's populace.
Finally, with regards to mrkjessup's observations, I contend that, while the indiscriminate use of thermo-nuclear weapons may FEEL good, and will help create a great deal more parking in our fair city, it will wreak havoc with respect to our light ordinances... all that glowing is just going ruin my view of the night sky!
I think that if you want to fix the roads, you should tax the people who get to use them. If I still had a drivers license I would be happy to pay DOT fees specifically for road and byway maintenance. Unfortunately I don't have a license ( for ridiculous reasons I have previously stated) and I don't get to traverse the byways like other citizens, so I don't want to have to pay for them. Driving is a privilege not a right and hence those who have the privilege should foot the bill.
DeleteDo you know that at the inception of our great nation the governments large and local survived almost exclusively on fees, not taxes. This insured that only users paid for services and infrastructure used. That is the great thing about toll roads, you choose to use it or not, that is until the government comes in and steals all the money.
As far as sidewalks are concerned you are correct. they are needed all over Tucson, desperately,and that would create some jobs but with "government" in charge projects like that which make sense will never get any where.
And you bet I am angry, the rich get richer and the poor get screwed, but CHRISTIANITY flourishes! Did Jesus have a Ferrari? or 2 homes, no he said to the rich guy, sell your shit and give to the poor, then follow me. Christianity in this state especially is a farce and churches should be taxed like everybody else.