TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Chuck Huckelberry Loop is a system of paved paths and bike lanes that thousands of people use each year. Pima County started construction of the loop during the 1970s.
In October of 1983, nearly seven inches of rain fell in Tucson over five days, making it the largest flood on record, according to Pima County. At that point, the county decided to implement bank protection to help mitigate flooding.
Luke Heinzelman is the infrastructure management division operations manager for Pima County and he said the goal is to keep the community safe.
"This all started after the '83 flood," he said. "It was over $100 million in damages and over 300 feet of erosion."
He said they have several projects to continue improving the loop and make sure it's not only safe for pedestrians to use but to help with the environment.
"The bridge behind me it’s set up over the bank protection to keep the waters flowing underneath so that way community is getting better use out of the loop path and keeping them safe from the floods,” he said.
Throughout the year, he said the county has many projects to help maintain the loop's safety, getting it ready for peak flooding seasons.
“We identify areas that have issues, we remove debris and we make sure that water flows from point A to point B,” he said.
