Voters in Pima County approved the RTA Next transportation plan March 10, unlocking a $2.67 billion pipeline of roadway, transit and safety projects across the Tucson region over the next two decades. The program includes dozens of corridor improvements, intersection upgrades and transit investments designed to improve mobility and safety across the county.
The program will be funded by extending the county’s existing half-cent regional transportation sales tax for another 20 years, generating the revenue needed to carry out the projects through 2046.
RTA Next is the successor to the Regional Transportation Authority program voters first approved in 2006, which promised more than $2 billion in improvements including roadway widening projects, intersection upgrades and regional transit investments across the Tucson metropolitan area. During the Great Recession and COVID-19, revenues fell short of predictions, so the new plan continues that effort while expanding work on safety improvements, multimodal transportation and regional mobility.
The RTA Next plan was derived with feedback from a citizens advisory committee composed of members across the geographic region. It includes mobility, safety and wildlife corridor improvements to roughly 31 road segments.
Some of the earliest opportunities may come from projects carried over from the original RTA program that remain unfinished and are expected to move to the front of the construction pipeline once the new program begins. Among these are enhancements to First Avenue and Silverbell Road, including widening for pedestrians and bicycles, as well as drainage improvements.
Initial phases are likely to include engineering design, environmental reviews, right-of-way preparation and utility coordination, creating near-term opportunities for civil engineering firms, surveyors and environmental consultants. Phase One of RTA Next continues a theme of widening roadways and accommodating multimodal transit with proper drainage along Thornydale Road and Valencia Road. RTA officials estimate these changes to take place between 2027 and 2031, with the Valencia Road project extending into Phase Two.
Among the largest projects included in the plan is the proposed Sonoran Corridor, a long-planned connection between Interstate 19 and Interstate 10 south of Tucson. The roughly 20-mile new thoroughfare is designed to improve freight movement and regional connectivity. The corridor project would require significant roadway construction, utility work and supporting infrastructure.
With voter approval secured, the RTA expects to begin transitioning projects into active development, with early construction activity anticipated before the end of the decade. RTA officials estimate the plan will support roughly 48,000 jobs across the region over its 20-year lifespan, generating an estimated $3.7 billion in economic benefit to the region.
Photo by Bill Morrow, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, from Wikimedia Commons
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