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Change on the way for Tucson's Sunshine Mile

Rio Nuevo moving ahead with enhancements
Posted at 7:12 PM, Nov 13, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-13 21:12:42-05

TUCSON, Ariz. - Tucson's downtown has gone from sleepy to hopping, now the same re-birth could be on the way to Tucson's Sunshine Mile.

Tucson's Rio Nuevo development district is hiring project managers to help transform the stretch of Broadway -- just east of downtown into an interesting new place to go.

Rio Nuevo chairman Fletcher McCusker says, “Think Laguna Beach, Palm Springs, destination retail.  Young, hip, food.  We've had a lot of restaurateurs approach us, given the success of Welcome Diner and Bisbee Breakfast Club, sort of the bookends.  So we see something very similar to what we might see at Joesler Village, kind of a destination drive through with a lot of older rehabilitated buildings.">

Plans to widen Broadway raised concerns --  the new lanes would take so much parking that businesses could not survive. 

Rio Nuevo plans to create pedestrian areas in front of businesses and add parking elsewhere.