Tucson is facing another setback from the Regional Transportation Authority in a key construction project on a three-mile stretch of North First Avenue known for high numbers of pedestrian fatalities.
The renovation of First Avenue from Grant to River roads is one of the cityβs projects built into the $2.1 billion RTA plan voters approved in 2006, but the city has advocated for a different version of the project than the one presented 16 years ago.
While the original ballot language called for expanding the road to six lanes, the city has since conducted a study that suggests keeping the road at four lanes with a raised median and several other safety improvements would meet current traffic projections while making the road safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.
The RTAβs Technical Management Committee tasked with overseeing the logistics of project delivery recommended the RTA Board proceed with the four-lane option and solicit more public feedback if it deems necessary. The nine-member board of representatives from Pima Countyβs jurisdictions and the Arizona State Transportation Board has to give final approval for the scope change on First Avenue.
The First Avenue project will instead go through the RTAβs corridor planning process to study both the four- and six-lane options that Executive Director Farhad Moghimi said could take around a year to complete.
After contracting COVID-19, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero wasnβt able to attend the RTA Boardβs Dec. 8 meeting and express the cityβs wishes to proceed with the design of a four-lane option.
In her absence, other RTA Board members said they want more public outreach and technical analysis before making a decision but voiced a desire to expedite the process.
βMy biggest request would be β it is a road thatβs of high visibility, high discussion, a lot of debate β and I think we could get through our normal process in an expedited manner,β said Gen. Ted Maxwell, the boardβs Arizona State Transportation Board appointee, who also noted βI donβt think we can discount what the cityβs doneβ in its own study.
Marana Mayor Ed Honea said, βAll this stuff is being done by the city exclusively,β and that there should be more regional input on the scope reduction. Sahuarita Mayor Thomas Murphy expressed hesitation in changing the project from what voters approved in 2006.
First Avenue is scheduled to begin construction in the 2025-2026 fiscal year. But before construction starts, Tucson will have to create a design concept report for the project that typically details 30% of the conceptual design for the construction of both the four and six-lane options. Once the analysis is complete, the board will make a decision on which option to choose.
The Tucson City Council has pushed for the RTA Board to accept a four-lane option based on the study it conducted throughout early 2021. The First Avenue Needs Assessment Study found the four-lane option would be safer for pedestrians to cross while taking up less private property than a six-lane expansion would.
But Moghimi called the cityβs analysis is βa completely different processβ than whatβs needed to initiate design, which is similar to the three-year planning process that took place before the Broadway RTA project was reduced from eight to six lanes.
The corridor planning process is required for all RTA projects, but the city worries restarting the outreach and technical study processes it already conducted will only further delay the projectβs delivery.
β(The city) did a public process. If RTA wants to do an additional public process, thatβs fine,β said Councilman Kevin Dahl, whose Ward 3 encompasses the First Avenue project. βThey should have started in a year ago, and they should do it on their own dime. And they shouldnβt spend extra money, when weβre low on money, to duplicate something thatβs been done.β
In his year as a city councilman, Dahl said heβs continuously heard concerns about safety on First Avenue. Recently, administrators from the Satori School on North First Avenue asked to meet with his staff, he said, over concerns for the safety of their students.
The corridor is part of Tucsonβs pedestrian high-injury network, meaning itβs in the top 10% of corridors for pedestrian crashes in the city. Pedestrians on the road are hit twice as often as they are on nearby streets and the area averages more than 100 vehicle crashes each year, according to the city.
βDelaying and doing another study means increased deaths and injuries to people, because the safety features wonβt be put in. It means increased costs, because weβre in a time of inflation and supply chain problems,β Dahl said.
The cityβs lost one of its main selling points on the reduced scope as inflationary factors have compounded the projectβs estimated cost. The city originally estimated the four-lane version of the project would cost about $18 million less than the six-lane version, but the project cost has increased from $73 million to an estimated $113 million.
Thereβs also an extra $30 million needed for drainage improvements near First Avenue before construction can begin. Those funds have yet to be identified, and the language on the RTA Boardβs agenda specified βfloodplain improvements arenβt eligible for RTA funding.β
The floodplain issue was a point of contention discussed at the City Councilβs Dec. 6 meeting. City Manager Michael Ortega said the agenda language βmakes it sound like we as the city have all this work to do, which is very disappointing to say the least,β and argued some of the drainage improvements are necessary road improvements instead of floodplain issues that would address flood control in adjacent neighborhoods.
The drainage in the roadway itself is βpart of the road design and should be part of the costs,β Ortega said.
The city agreed to delay two of its RTA projects β Houghton Road from Broadway to Tanque Verde Road and 22nd Street from I-10 to Kino Parkway β to lessen the RTAβs funding shortfall but has continuously advocated for getting the First Avenue project completed in the current 20-year transportation plan.
According to Moghimi, the RTA doesnβt need to move any more projects into the next RTA to address its funding shortfall. However, the executive director previously told the City Council that any projects withscope changes and βan incremental cost increaseβ that Tucson doesnβt cover with its own funds would have to go back to Pima Countyβs voters for approval.
Whether First Avenue would have to go back to voters is βa policy decision for the Board to determine if the proposed changes are significant enough to warrant that,β Moghimi said.