Report: Tucson no longer among areas with worst roads

Tucson did not make the cut in a national report released last week highlighting the regions of the country with the worst road conditions.

And the Old Pueblo’s absence from the report by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit research group TRIP was no accident, city leaders say.

It represents a major turnaround from the group’s 2013 report, when the city ranked fifth worst in country.

“This is work that started in 2011,” Tucson City Councilman Paul Cunningham said of Tucson’s disappearance from the list of shabby roads.

The city has invested tens of million of dollars into roads over the past few years.

Beginning in 2012, road conditions started to improve because the council had reallocated some of the city’s Highway User Revenue Funds and refinanced past debt. That allowed the city to put $20 million into resurfacing about 60 miles of roadway.

Later in 2012, voters approved a $100 million bond package that included resurfacing and repairs to more than 185 miles of city roadway.

To date, the city has spent about $40 million of those bond funds.

The city’s additional focus on roads over the past few years has shown results, Tucson Bond Oversight Commission chairman Ramon Gaanderse says.

“The fact that the city is getting work done on time and under budget is a good thing,” Gaanderse said.

If the analyses were done today, it would find even better overall road conditions, Cunningham said. “The number of failed roads has dipped to below 10 percent,” he said.

The TRIP report analyzed Federal Highway Administration data from 2013, dividing the country into areas with populations more than 500,000 people and those with populations between 250,000 and 500,000. It ranks streets as poor, mediocre, fair and good.

In the new report, 32 percent of city streets and roads were graded poor. Another 30 percent of roads were rated good.

Phoenix area roads were 13 percent poor and 54 percent good, the report shows.

In 2013, the TRIP report noted more than half of Tucson’s major and arterial roads were in poor condition. That report analyzed data collected in 2011.

Tucson also ranked better this time on the calculations for the amount spent on road-caused car repairs.

This year, the report estimates area drivers spent an additional $586 for auto repairs, down from $723 in the previous report.

San Francisco was again the costliest city for motorists, with the average road-related repair needs totaling $1,044 per year.

When the road bond projects are completed, the city will have repaired or resurfaced more than 185 miles of roadways.

There’s also the possibility the city could receive another $65 million infusion specifically for road repairs.

Pima County’s November bond election includes a $200 million proposal for new road construction and repairs.

Allocated proportionally based on share of property tax collections, the city’s cut would be more than $65 million.

If voters approve, the combined investment in the city’s long-neglected street and roads would exceed $185 million.

With several road projects already completed and more underway, Cunningham said his office still receives complaints about streets, but the issues are different.

“We get more calls about construction than we do about potholes,” he said.