A draft proposal for a long-term regional transportation plan calls for $3.1 billion for road maintenance, an extension of the streetcar system and bike and pedestrian safety improvements across Pima County.
It’s essentially a wish list of more than 200 projects in Pima County that could be completed in the next 30 years. The Pima Association of Governments’ 2045 Regional Transportation Plan is the county’s federally required, long-term strategic vision.
The inclusion of a project in the plan does not guarantee that it will be completed or funding will be available, said Patrick Hartley, project manager for the plan.
But it serves as a good starting point to discuss transportation ideas that could be funded with federal, state or local dollars.
The plan can still be updated following public feedback in the next few months, he said.
The most expensive item on the list — at $3.1 billion — would go to repairing current roadways throughout Pima County. It’s something the community has been asking for, Hartley said.
“A major theme we heard throughout the process is a desire among the public to ensure that we are maintaining the transportation system that we have,” Hartley said.
About $13 billion in transportation funding is assumed to be available for projects over the next 30 years, according to the PAG Transportation Planning Committee.
The list of projects also includes:
- $305 million in pedestrian mobility improvements for sidewalks, maintenance, landscaping, lighting and ramps, along with several projects for bikes and pedestrians.
- A four-mile extension of streetcar tracks along a yet-to-be-determined corridor for $170 million.
- About $31 million to widen the Aerospace Parkway from Nogales Highway to the Sonoran Corridor, which would help connect Interstates 19 and 10.
- $200 million to expand the fixed-route bus system in Tucson.
- $73 million allocated for bike lanes, plus developing “bicycle boulevards” for $35 million.
Federal law requires the PAG to update its long-term plan every four years in order to receive federal transportation funding, said Jim DeGrood, PAG’s deputy director.
The current 2045 proposal includes significant changes from the county’s previous long-term plan, DeGrood said.
That previous plan, the 2040 Regional Transportation Plan, which was approved in 2012, assumed greater population and economic growth. State demographers have come back with updated forecasts, DeGrood said.
Revised population projections assume a slower pace for growth in the next 30 years, Hartley said. The 2040 plan predicted Pima County’s population to nearly double to about 1.85 million by 2040, but the updated plan anticipates a population of 1.45 million by 2045.
The lower projected growth means less money for the county, Hartley said.
“We are looking at lower revenue forecasts, meaning that there are fewer projects that we can include in the financially constrained plan,” Hartley said, “but, on the other side of the ledger, we’re also looking at lower population, meaning that there would be lower demand for some of the future investments.”
As a result, Hartley said, planners dialed back the scale of some long-term projects.
The proposed widening of Interstate 10, for example, was slated to make the freeway 10 lanes from West Ruthrauff Road north to the county line. Now, the project is proposing widening to eight lanes to West Ina Road and maintaining current conditions north of there, Hartley said.
“This is a long-term perspective, so assumptions may change and funding may change,” he said.
The current streetcar system would be doubled in size, under one proposed project, but the possible route for the extension is “up in the air,” Hartley said. According to the 2045 RTP draft proposal, routes could run on Campbell Avenue, Broadway or South Sixth Street.
Margot Garcia, a member of the 2045 committee, said she believes the streetcar extension should go down Broadway.
“It’s a natural part of the extension from downtown for tourism to come down,” Garcia said.
Public hearings will be held for the updated plan in the coming weeks. Hartley said he expects the finalized plan to go before PAG Regional Council for approval in the spring.
He said the draft proposal is the result of an 18-month process that included a public survey, online engagement and several meetings of the planning committee.
