By this time next year, you’ll likely be enjoying smoother roads along the unincorporated roads of Pima County, if everything goes according to the county transportation department’s plan outlined last week in its annual report.
The county’s spotlight is moving from attending to $1 billion in infrastructure capacity improvements as part of the voter-approved Regional Transportation Authority plan and 1997 Transportation Bond Program to pavement repairs and preservation, officials say.
“The main focus of department resources should be infrastructure maintenance. We have readjusted the department, reduced our capital program resources and re-directed all savings to achieving that goal,” said Ana Olivares, director of the Pima County Transportation Department.
For fiscal year 2019, the department spent $8.7 million toward pavement work, about 40 miles of roads, including the major arterial of Thornydale Road from Magee Road north to Marana.
“With these changes we have been able to identify $15 million in pavement repair and preservation for fiscal year 2020,” Olivares said in the report. “This amount will only grow in the upcoming years as we continue to find more efficiencies and savings in every aspect of our daily tasks.”
The department said their continued priority is keeping roads in good condition roads from becoming worse for wear, while providing added attention to those in rough shape.
We’re looking at you, potholes.
Among the unincorporated roads, 65% remain in poor condition. The transportation department says they’ll continue working to reduce this number in 2020.
The pothole repairs are a major factor included in the repairs, due to the seemingly countless number of them.
During the fiscal year, more than 7,700 road fix requests were sent to the transportation department. Of them, 3,498 were for potholes, according to the report.
“Pothole requests are the biggest requests that we get, and our staff cannot be driving every road, every day. We really appreciate people sending in the requests because then we know where to put in our resources where they’re most needed,” Olivares said.
The requests come from the launch of the county’s SeeClickFix site, which allows residents to send pictures through from their phone app to an automated intake system. The user will then receive updates from the department on how they addressed the problem, if they choose to.
In addition to fixing the poor roads, engineers are attempting to find new cost-effective ways to extend the life of roads.
Tests are ongoing along a 4.3-mile stretch of San Joaquin Road, southwest of Tucson, with 14 different paving treatments to determine which ones could help. At least two more tests are planned for 2020 to capture each of the treatments’ roughness and other qualities in the Arizona climate.
“The majority of our failed roads are the neighborhood roads,” Olivares said.
“That is why the San Joaquin test strip was first thought of. It’s a way to try to find a more cost-effective way repair for our poor and failed roads.”
The end goal is to have multiple treatments added to a list of cost-effective fixes.
The 2020 fiscal year also marks the beginning of $26 million in improvements to repair about 120 miles of unincorporated roads in all five districts in the next 10 years.
The roads would then be kept in good condition thanks to a pay-as-you-go county capital funding system, which would provide a portion of savings dedicated to road repair as bonds are paid off, according to the report.
“It’s the roads, but it’s also some bridges that need to be improved and we always have signs, striping, pavement markings that need to be improved,” said Olivares. “All of that is in need of continuous maintenance and that’s where we’re allocating the majority of our resources.”
Down the road
• County crews removing crosswalks near closed Thornydale Elementary:Three school crosswalks and the accompanying signage will be removed at North Oldfather Drive and West Massingale Road near the now-closed Thornydale Elementary School.
Motorists should expect minor delays Monday through Thursday, between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., as flaggers direct traffic through the area.
• Ongoing sewer work to affect users of Huckleberry Loop: For the next eight weeks, east side users of The Chuck Huckleberry Loop will be affected due to sewer work.
Crews started the work along Pantano River Park on Oct. 2.
User access to the ramps of the east bank of Pantano Wash at East Speedway is closed. Bicyclists are asked to walk their bikes in the area.
All loop users are asked to follow instructions from flaggers and on message boards and signage.
