Welcome new University of Arizona and Pima Community College students.
Many of you are from the area, so Tucsonβs streets arenβt news to you. But almost as many of you are just getting to know the Old Pueblo and her sometimes quirky transportation ways as I put these words to Google Docs (44 percent of the 8,000-strong incoming freshman class at the University of Arizona alone are out-of-staters, and a number of the 2,000 of the transfer students arenβt even from the country).
This week the Road Runner felt heβd do you all a favor and share some of the interesting, strange, and good-to-know facts about being a driver, biker, pedestrian or combination thereof in your new home. It might help you get around a little easier, and also ease the seasonal congestion your annual arrival brings to the downtown area (your humble columnist is not trying to shame you; he and his beloved Ford coupe added to the traffic back in 2011 when he started at the UA).
Letβs start with something youβve probably already noticed: our roads arenβt in the best shape. Over 40 percent of major city streets are in poor to failed condition, and that figure jumps to nearly 80 percent for local streets, according to data provided by the City of Tucson Department of Transportation. Sixty percent of roads in unincorporated parts of Pima County are in similar shape. There are lots of reasons for the state of affairs, but the short of it is this: if youβre going to be here for just four years, donβt hold your breath for pristine blacktop to be rolled out for you, and drive accordingly.
You may have also found yourself suddenly on a new street, despite not having taken any turns. Do not panic, you have not passed through a vortex β those are up in Sedona. Rather, there are several thoroughfares that simply change names unannounced. For example, you can start on Park Avenue, transition to Euclid Avenue, and eventually make it to First Avenue without ever leaving the roadway. You can do the same on the east-west Sixth Street, which switches to Fifth Street near Country Club Road, and Grant Road, which becomes Ironwood Hill Drive at Silverbell Road on the west side.
Tucson has a few novel intersections called Michigan lefts as well. Right now there are just two, one at Oracle Road and Grant and another further north at Oracle and Ina Road, but more will likely come online during your time here. Yes, youβre right, they are strange. No, their purpose is not obvious. And probably, they do improve traffic flow and may cut down on crashes. All you really need to know is this: if a sign at one of these major intersections tells you not to take a left, even though it seems like you should be able to, just donβt. Proceed straight, and all will be explained. We also have both leading and trailing lefts in Tucson, meaning itβs sometimes difficult to predict when your green left arrow will come.
If you feel youβre being watched at certain Tucson intersections, youβre not alone. After Tucsonans voted last November to take down so-called red light cameras in the city, the cameras were indeed removed. However, the camera housing β which can look very cameralike β was left because city officials saw potential value in the equipment. The Road Runner still gets calls and emails from readers suspicious that Big Brother is very interested in watching them update their Facebook feed while waiting for the light to change, but to the best of your humble columnistβs knowledge only the NSA is doing that now. City staff have been directed to point the camera housing downward, to allay such suspicions.
You should also know that checking your Facebook or texting while driving is now against county ordinance, in addition to being an absurdly dangerous and reckless thing to do. It has been a largely unenforced violation in Tucson since 2012.
And now some more practical advice about getting around campus and downtown in ways that make your life, and the lives of your new neighbors, less stressful. Florence Ochoa, with UA Parking and Transportation Services, graciously passed along some great tips for students.
Ochoaβs office has a pretty ambitious goal: βmaintain the number of parking spaces even as the University grows.β From well over 43,000 currently, the UA hopes to grow enrollment to 64,250 students by 2025, meaning lots of students are going to have to take advantage of the driving alternatives she pitched.
As it stands, a little under a third of the student body parks on campus, which can make for pretty extreme congestion as drivers inch from garage to garage looking for a spot. Thereβs an app for that: the Garage Full app, which can be downloaded from the PTS website and tells users, as the name suggests, which garages are full to cut down on wasteful wandering.
Thereβs also a carpool, car-share and park-and-ride program at the UA, information about which can be found at the PTS website parking.arizona.edu.
Better yet, Ochoa said, is for students to not drive to campus at all, and there are many ways to accomplish that. UA students can get a discounted fall semester pass for both Sun Tran buses and the Sun Link streetcar for $87 (the regular student price is $173, which is still a lot cheaper than the $672 yearly rate it costs to park in campus garages or $444 for zone parking). Between 3,500 and 4,000 students take advantage of the subsidized rate every year, according to Ochoa.
There are also, of course, bikes. Upwards of 12,000 students and faculty already ride to campus daily, but thereβs room for more, according to Ochoa. The campus has a bike valet program to keep bikes safe during the day, and the currently bikeless can check one out for the day for free through the Cat Wheels program.
Pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure has been improving around campus, with the new crossing beacon at the Ninth Street-Campbell Avenue intersection being just the latest example. Nevertheless, words of caution are in order for those who choose to walk and ride to school: Tucson has above average rates of fatal pedestrian and cyclist wrecks. That being said, not all routes are created equal.
Major thoroughfares account for way more than their fair share of serious incidents, while calmer residential streets, some with major investments in bike lanes, speed tables and other safety features, have almost none. The Pima Association of Governments has put together a map β and app! β to give Tucsonans a good idea where they can walk and ride safely. You can check that out here: tinyurl.com/zrhqxor.
