TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — If you ride or walk the Loop you have plenty of company. Locals love the Loop and so do tourists. But results of a Pima County survey mixed affection for the trail with concerns about safety.
Pima County says the Chuck Huckelberry Loop is so popular it gets 20 thousand visits a month but the survey says some of the visitors want to see some changes there and safety improvements are high on the list.
The Loop is more than 130 miles of opportunities to ride a bike or take a walk.
A Pima County survey says 53 percent of people who took the survey say they are somewhat satisfied with the Loop. 42 percent say they are very satisfied.
When the County asked what needs to improve about 43 percent wanted more shade but safety improvements were a strong second. Almost 42 percent said they want better safety.
In another part of the survey 60 percent of people responding felt the Loop was unsafe “due to homeless encampments - coupled with drug use, crime and harassment.”
Homeless people are common along the Loop. Last fall a man stabbed a cyclist to death there.
Josh Jacobsen of the Tucson Crime Free Coalition notes that the County put unarmed security patrols on the Loop but dropped them after concluding they were not reducing crime. He would like to see more resources applied tp solving problems on the Loop.
“Like the county has done in conjunction with the city of Tucson, more deployments with the transition center, so that we're going out, we're reaching the people, because the majority of the people that are encountered during the loop patrols were folks experiencing homelessness. We can start to direct those people into shelters or treatment, or if they're breaking the law, there's jail.” 1:50
Pima County Spokesperson Mark Evans points out the positive scores on the survey but says the County has recognized crime concerns before this new survey.
He says now the County is working to apply its One Pima program to bring a coordinated approach to community problems that spill onto the Loop.
“One Pima is looking at issues with not only housing and homelessness, but also fentanyl use and addiction, and to focus on those issues as they pertain to the loop an areas where we can make improvements to the Loop.”
