In May, Tucsonans voted yes on Prop. 101, a half-cent sales tax increase designed to pump more money into both public safety needs and road repairs. Fast forward to Thursday night, the City of Tucson & Tucson Department of Transportation hosted an open house where people could give suggestions and comments about specific roads they'd like to see repaired.
One of those people was Sanford Selznick.
"Tucson has problems all around, there are lots of neighborhoods that need help," he said, as he marked his problem spots.
More specifically, he's like the problems in his Sam Hughes neighborhood fixed.
"Our roads are really bad," he said. "Our kids ride on them with their bicycles, and parts are falling off of them. It's incredibly rickety."
TDOT explains some local streets haven't had work done on them in 30+ years! Many are in dire need of resurfacing & repairs @kgun9 #tucson pic.twitter.com/v4x0j5NF8H
— Max Darrow (@MaxDarrowTV) August 25, 2017
Other folks like Mick Mathieu had other spots on their minds.
"One of the roadways I commented on was Craycroft Road," he said. "It would be nice if maybe the bike lanes were wider and also if they had some bus pullouts there so that it would make it safe for all of the transit riders as well as all of the traveling public on the roadways."
Mike Graham with the Tucson Dept. of Transportation explained to the crowd how $100 million over a five year period would be used.
"$60 million of that $100 million will go towards the major streets," Graham said. "$40 million will go to the local street program."
Prop 101 passed in May. Now, open house w/ @cityoftucson TDOT asking public what roads to fixed. $60M to mains, $40M to residential @kgun9 pic.twitter.com/U7kMiWkglr
— Max Darrow (@MaxDarrowTV) August 25, 2017
Vanessa Cascio is another person who showed up to give her input. Her main concern had to to with cyclists and pedestrians.
"It's really important that when we're thinking about residential streets, we're thinking about connectivity for not just cars, but for people on foot and on bikes and people who are taking transit," she said.
Graham added that many streets in the city limits haven't been touched for more than 30 years, and it's time to get to work on them.
"We should be doing that. People should take pride in their community," he said. "And this gives them that sense of pride when we have good infrastructure."
All the green zones are candidates for road improvements. Represent 1/4 mile sections of roads @kgun9 #tucson pic.twitter.com/CTYRv1AHW5
— Max Darrow (@MaxDarrowTV) August 25, 2017
Mathieu hopes they city is thinking long-term when it comes to maintenance, and doesn't want to see the roads look good for a year or two, just to deteriorate to the same condition they're in now.
"You fund roadways, but one of the things that happens long-term," he said. "Is that people forget about the maintenance."
