TUCSON, Ariz. - Drivers in Pima County have something to look forward to in the coming year. The county's adopted a new way of paying for road repair that promises to fix all the county's roads over the next ten years---and there’s way you might influence where repairs happen first.
It can be a bumpy road to anywhere if you drive in Pima County. Road maintenance dropped into the slow lane when money from gas taxes dropped.
Now because Pima County's paid off a lot of its' debt, it's able to take money it would have used to pay off bonds and use it for a pay-as-you-go approach to road repair.
Pima County Transportation Director Ana Olivares says over ten years that approach will cover the cost of repairing every road in unincorporated Pima County.
..”and bring it up to a pavement condition of 80. So to put that in perspective, our current pavement condition index average is 38 out of zero to 100.'
KGUN9 reporter Craig Smith said:”So this is like. If you're getting a grade in school. It goes from like a "D" or an "F" to a "B" maybe?”
Olivares: "An "F" to a B-Plus!"
But it is a ten year program that starts when Pima County's new fiscal year starts in July---and you'd probably like to see your road repaired in year one, not year ten.
If you want to steer Pima County street repair to the field of potholes that may be in front of your house there is a way to ask. The driver seat for that is in front of your computer. Go to the Pima DOT website, look up the Transportation Advisory Committee and send committee members a message. They help decide the priorities for what gets fixed--when."
Ana Olivares says to make your road a priority you need to do more than just say you want your road fixed.
“Is any kind of traffic volume should the criteria of traffic volume be utilized? Should the condition that there's no sidewalks and people need to walk and walk on that road be more important? Those are the kind of questions that the Transportation Advisory Committee wants to hear about from the residents."
And the roads that mean most to you may already be on track for repair. The Pima DOT website features an interactive map that shows where a lot of road projects stand.
