The Tucson Mayor and Council will consider approval of an alignment for the Broadway widening project on June 9. We owe it to the private property owners along the corridor, the Citizen Task Force and staff who have invested so much time in getting us to this point, and to the community in general to move the process forward. Until we do, we will only continue to see disinvestment and a loss of the vibrancy the public has asked to see developed along that stretch of roadway.
The Broadway project was voter-approved through the 2006 RTA Regional Plan. At that time the idea was to expand the roadway to eight lanes, totaling 150 feet wide, with all of the expansion going to the north. The result would have been the elimination of more 120 homes and businesses between Euclid and Country Club.
Because they recognized the original traffic projections were not being realized, the RTA and Pima County joined the mayor and council in embracing a six-lane solution proposed by the Citizen Task Force. The details of that proposal are yet to be resolved.
Moving to six lanes was not retreating from a commitment made to the voters. What the new design shows is the ability to respond to changing needs and not waste taxpayer money on a project that had no justification in fact.
The new alignment will still include the need to expand the width of the roadway, and with that there will be property acquisitions.
Once staff knows which properties are affected by the proposed alignment, they can approach each property owner and begin discussing remedies in an effort to save as many of them as possible.
Some of those remedies will be adjacent property owners working together and agreeing to joint parking arrangements, cross-access agreements or other creative solutions to the impacts of the widened roadway.
And in some cases, the “taking” will result in buildings being demolished. It’s key for people to understand that by taking out some buildings, it will open up the possibility for other property owners to use that newly created space to preserve their own viability through shared-use agreements. It’s not until an alignment is adopted that those conversations can begin.
In each of the many public meetings I’ve attended related to this project, the constant themes expressed have included preservation of historic buildings where possible, creating a sense of place and a destination, and maintaining and improving the economic vitality of the corridor.
Since the city is on the hook for any cost overruns associated with this project, we have a vested interest in sharing each of those goals. The draft alignment appears to be headed in the right direction.
Probably the single most contentious element involved with the design of this project is the demolition of existing buildings. I have made the point on numerous occasions that we simply cannot afford to spend taxpayer money on unnecessarily eliminating buildings that form the tax base we need to thrive as a community.
And yet, everybody invested in this project must understand that drawing a “no demolitions” line in the sand will not make the project affordable. Or, more importantly, it will not allow us to create a commercially vibrant corridor. As some buildings come down, adjoining property owners’ options for continuing to operate are expanded. That’s the simple reality of how the project will unfold.
Tucson cannot overspend on property acquisitions and demolitions. Staff will use the proposed alignment as the starting point for negotiating agreements with property owners that will result in the maximum number of them feasible remaining up and operating. But those negotiations cannot begin until the mayor and council approve a draft alignment.
On June 9 we’ll have that opportunity. It will be a necessary next step for us to take in order to attract reinvestment into this stretch of roadway. That’s what the public has demanded, and it’s the design the Citizen Task Force has labored to develop.
