Tim Steller's column: Revamp of 'Sunshine Mile' late, but result should be great

For years now, friends and neighbors have been avoiding driving the Broadway construction zone, just east of downtown from Euclid to Country Club.

But over the last year or so, it became a secret pleasure I indulged.

On my drives I’ve been able to witness and enjoy the gradual completion of one of Tucson’s most highly debated road projects — lanes paved, sidewalks laid, and, lately, trees planted.

The reconstruction and widening of Broadway is delayed again, as my colleague Sam Kmack reported last weekend. It won’t be completed till June. That’s a pain, but as the project comes together, the time is coming into view when this stretch of Broadway starts fulfilling its potential as Tucson’s next great place.

The key to the success of this project, I think, has been getting rid of parking. And parking will also be a key to its success.

This stretch of Broadway was one of the first generation of automobile-oriented shopping streets in Tucson. That meant that many retail strips had a thin stretch of parking in front, often with three or four or more entrances and exits. The curb and sidewalk stopped and started, accommodating the driveways.

Now, many of those awkward parking strips are gone, chewed up by the road widening. What’s left are numerous buildings closer to the street, many of them with a strip of landscaping in front, and a few of them even bordering the new sidewalks.

It already feels more like an urban commercial street and less like a run-down old suburb strip.

Having driven the two miles known as the Sunshine Mile many times, I decided to walk them Friday morning. It was an encouraging stroll. More businesses remain open than I remembered, and some are reopening.

At Inglis Florists, 2362 E. Broadway, manager Cindy Morgan told me the construction has been a pain, but business has remained strong enough. The sign in front says “We are open...extra parking in back alley.”

Inglis Florists on Broadway — The Inglis Florists store on Broadway has survived the reconstruction by directing customers to park in the lot off the back alley. Many Broadway businesses will have to do the same once the reconstruction is complete.
By Tim Steller Arizona Daily Star

When people call, Morgan, who has worked at Inglis for 26 years, tells them to use South Tucson Boulevard, drive into the alley behind the store and park in back. It’s worked out well enough.

“I think when it’s done it’s going to be lovely,” she said.

Down the road, the framing of a new Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers is going up on the site where the El Parador long stood. Sonic Drive-in is advertising to hire new employees for their re-opening.

Nothing’s easy

Just getting this far was the result of an arduous, painful process, the kind that Tucson is infamous for, but that, in the end, could produce a strong result.

The city first approved widening Broadway in 1989 — 33 years ago. For the following 17 years, property owners were in limbo, unsure whether their land or buildings would be bought out for the widening. The stretch gradually withered from the uncertainty.

Finally in 2006, certainty arrived in the form of voter approval of the Regional Transportation Authority and its countywide, half-cent sales tax. The widening of Broadway, from four lanes and a center turning lane to eight lanes, was approved with the RTA plan.

But neighbors objected to making the road that wide — it would have been an excessive 150 feet for pedestrians to cross. Councilman Steve Kozachik, who still represents the ward, agreed and pushed to narrow the project.

In 2014, the Regional Transportation Authority Board finally agreed. Years more of meetings, hearings, planning and design iterations ensued. That resulted in the current design: The road curves gradually, north and south, in an effort that spared dozens of historic buildings but also cut out many parking lots.

After Rio Nuevo joined the project in 2017, taking ownership of historic buildings in an effort to “activate” them, they brought in the Project for Public Spaces to help figure out how to make the Sunshine Mile into a “great place.”

Among the recommendations: Reduce the access points to front parking lots along Broadway, establish parking in the back of businesses, and share parking.

“Ample parking”

It has worked so far for Inglis, and Randi Dorman is counting on it working for the project she’s working on with Moniqua Lane. They won the right, in a Rio Nuevo bidding process, to redevelop the “Historic Bungalow” block, just west of North Campbell Avenue.

Bungalow amid Broadway reconstruction — A historic bungalow that was moved back from Broadway and saved from the reconstruction project. Photographed on March 25, 2022.
By Tim Steller Arizona Daily Star

Their plan is to turn the bungalows, which were moved back from the street to save them, into a series of businesses and services celebrating Tucson’s UNESCO City of Gastronomy designation. Along the bungalow block they plan to establish a restaurant, a bar, a teaching kitchen, a demonstration kitchen, a hub for nonprofits and food tours.

The bungalow project will have parking on a surface lot just across North Cherry Avenue, one of the adjacent streets. Dorman thinks that should be enough for her project, and that there’s enough parking in the area overall.

“In the Sunshine Mile, while there might not be parking in front of the businesses you want to go to, there is ample parking,” she said.

Historic bungalow block — Developers Randi Dorman and Moniqua Lane plan to turn seven historic bungalows into a celebration of Tucson's City of Gastronomy designation. A restaurant, bar, demonstration kitchen, teaching kitchen, and tour hub are planned for the buildings, which were moved back 75 feet from the street.
By Tim Steller Arizona Daily Star

She noted the distances people walk from a mall parking lot to a store inside the mall. These distances won’t be longer than that, just a little more complicated.

“You have to activate these spaces with businesses that people want to frequent,” she said. “When that happens, people will figure out how to get there.”

Bread line

I had started my morning by parking behind the famous Broadway Village shopping center at Country Club and drinking a tea at Ombre Coffee, the shop connected to Bisbee Breakfast Club. The restaurant was humming, and I watched as a long line formed along the sidewalk to shop at the adjacent Barrio Bread.

Baker Don Guerra, who is a James Beard Award finalist, has already built a significant culinary destination on the Sunshine Mile.

When I finished my walk down Broadway, rather than walking back, I hopped a No. 8 bus back to Country Club. It could hardly have been easier, especially since buses remain free and run every 15 minutes weekdays on that route.

I met Andy Littleton, president of the Sunshine Mile Business Association, back at Ombre Coffee. He’s worried about there being enough parking for any big draw that develops on the street, but he’s excited about the changes he sees.

He noted some consideration is being given to a trolley bus, or some other form of local transit, that runs this route frequently along the Sunshine Mile, perhaps up to the El Con area.

“Though the project didn’t satisfy everyone, it’s coming out more aesthetically pleasing than it used to be,” he said. “The way the road meanders back and forth makes for a more interesting visual experience.”

One of the drawbacks of the negotiated outcome of the project is that bicyclists were given no special protection. When complete, the streets will have striped bike lanes and nothing more. Inglis employee Eric Penn told me he would definitely be a bike commuter if there were more protection.

“I probably will anyway, once it’s done, but that would make it a lot safer,” he said.

Maybe over time we can fix these flaws that resulted from the tough compromises that allowed the project to get done.

Updated Jun 3, 2020

Sunshine Mile in Tucson

Updated Jun 3, 2020