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With no new freeways in the RTA's plan, Tucson will be widening numerous major arterials across the city, including this five-year, $166M expansion of Grant Road:


City OKs alignment for $166M Grant Road widening
Move comes despite negative comments at council meeting

by B. POOLE
Tucson Citizen
01.14.2009

The City Council approved the footprint of a sweeping widening of Grant Road on Tuesday despite the objection of many who live and work along the busy east-west artery. After a public hearing during which most of a dozen or so people spoke against the project, the council approved the alignment 6-1. The details of the project, including how much land property owners may lose, will be developed in the design phase that now starts. Only Ward 5 Councilman Steve Leal voted against the alignment, citing his fear that deciding might be premature based on the opposition. "Once you do this you can never go back," Leal said before the vote.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2013 and last five years on the $166 million Regional Transportation Authority project, which is due for total completion in 2026. The work will take Grant Road from two lanes to three in each direction from Oracle Road to Swan Road. The current alignment is not the same as previous attempts to widen Grant, said city Transportation Department Director Jim Glock. "This project differs from previous projects in that listening was the first step," he said.

The project has been vetted in scores of public meetings and focus groups, neighborhood by neighborhood along the length of the proposed work. Every affected property owner has been offered individual meetings with planners. Glock called the amount of public input "unprecedented." Ward 6 Councilwoman Nina Trasoff agreed. "I've never seen a process like this that was so open and so inclusive," she said.

John Wakefield, owner of Artistry in Glass, 3423 E. Grant, believes the project will drive rents out of reach for small businesses because torn-down storefronts would be replaced by new buildings with higher rent. "It's going to cause carnage in the small-business community. These businesses are not going to be able to survive," he told the council. Wakefield's property will be taken for the project. He will retire rather than try to reopen, he said.

Construction will happen in stages along the project, meaning the impact on property owners also will come in stages. The project now goes to engineers, who over the next six months will draw detailed plans, allowing property owners to see exactly how much of their land the widening will swallow. Most property acquisition will start in 2010, though property owners can apply for quicker buyouts for medical, financial or other hardship, Glock said.