TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Andrés Cano, Pima County Supervisor for District 5, has hit the ground running after recently stepping into the position and is excited about projects he’s currently working on.
One of them is the Drexel Road Bridge project on the Westside.
The two-lane bridge is going to go over the Santa Cruz River extending Drexel Road from Calle Santa Cruz to Midvale Park Road.
It’s right in between Valencia and Irvington by the Tucson Spectrum Shopping Center where there tends to be traffic congestion.
“If you’re trying to get to work or go back home from work at rush hour, it’s gonna take you 30 to 40 minutes to get home. That’s unacceptable and there’s a way for us to fix that," Cano said.
Maurice Hill lives right where the bridge will be and says it’ll help with traffic, but he has some worries.
“I’m glad to see the improvement coming with the bridge there, but I’m just concerned that they might block off Drexel cause we use Drexel to get out of Mahan," Hill mentioned.
It’s a $40 million project in the making.
“As the house minority leader, when I served in legislature I secured $15 million to go to the City of Tucson to help provide the first payment toward the Drexel Bridge," Cano said.
Construction is anticipated to be in 2026 or 2027, depending on the rest of the funding.
Cano says he is also looking forward to help address issues such as housing, making sure the infrastructure is strong and protected, including the environment, and also creating good paying jobs.
The Pima County Board of Supervisors adopted the Fiscal Year 2026 budget of $1.7 billion on June 17.
Cano says $10 million of the approved budget, will go toward affordable home ownership, eviction protection and support for renters.
He also mentioned the county’s investment in a preschool program called Pima Early Education Program Scholarships (PEEPS), allowing parents to have quality childcare that’s affordable.
"This latest budget that was just adopted invests in the PEEPS program and allows us to be able to meet our families where they need us most, which is affordability" Cano said. "We've gotta make taking care of our kids more affordable and right now it's taking up a big part of people's paychecks."
Being Pima County District 5 Supervisor is a full circle moment for Cano, as he is no stranger to the area.
“Being born and raised here and being a product of District 5 has really given me a good launching pad to be able to make some progress in this new position," Cano said.
District 5 covers parts of Downtown, Midtown, Westside, Southside, and the Pascua Yaqui nation, which is about 250,000 people.
Cano says over the last three months, it has been rewarding to meet with some of those residents directly who care about the community.
"As a county supervisor I'm really committed to going back to the basics and connecting with neighborhoods and people in our community who are just really inspired by our ability to make meaningful change at the local level," Cano said.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
