Sentinel Peak Road will be closed to all users this weekend and for at least the next three weekends while maintenance crews from the Tucson Department of Transportation repair erosion damage caused by heavy August rains.
Since the damage occurred, vehicles have been unable to use the road, but starting Friday, Sept. 15, bicyclists and pedestrians will also be unable to use the road from 6 p.m. Fridays through 2:30 p.m. Sundays to accommodate road work. That also will be the closure schedule for the following three weekends.
City crews will repair retaining walls, road shoulders and drainage culverts, according to a city news release. In addition to repair work, the drainage systems on the interior shoulder are receiving concrete improvements to prevent future damage, said city transportation spokesman Mike Graham.
Graham was unable to provide a project cost estimate because it is not known how much time and material will be necessary to complete the repairs.
“Once we’re done with repairs, we’ll know how much backfill and dirt we used, how much materials and staff labor as well, so we won’t have that information until the labor is completed,” Graham said.
Though heavy monsoon rains are common in the area, Graham said the August downpour was unusually powerful.
“I heard some reports that it was raining 2 inches per hour,” he said. “Storms like that don’t happen very often.”
Graham also acknowledged the possibility the project could take longer than the established four-week plan.
