Guest Opinion: Let’s stop the decay along Grant Road
by Steve Farley on Apr. 03, 2006, under Opinion
Farley
I don’t have to tell you. You already know. Grant Road is dangerous, ugly and congested.
Grant isn’t working for motorists who have to wait for two and three signal cycles to pass through intersections.
This wastes our time and money and pollutes our air. Idling at intersections is the most significant source of pollution in our region.
Grant isn’t working for pedestrians who have to cross five lanes without any median refuge to get to the other side.
Kids have been killed trying to cross. In a brief period early last year, in a one-mile stretch between Alvernon and Country Club, one pedestrian was killed and nine were injured.
Grant isn’t working for businesses when congestion blocks access to their driveways, when customers have no sidewalks to reach the front doors and when any rainfall turns the road into a river.
All this is why the Grant Road project is one of the most important reasons to vote “yes” on Questions 1 and 2 on May 16.
When the plan passes, we will rebuild Grant as a neighborhood-friendly small-business corridor with improved crosstown mobility for motorists and improved safety for pedestrians.
If we don’t fix Grant now, there is no other source of significant revenues for its improvement.
We can’t use impact fees. Those can only be spent where they are collected, predominantly in new subdivisions on the edges of town.
I have heard an opponent claim we could improve Grant for less cost by simply improving intersections. That is simply not true.
An intersection-only plan would not rebuild the roadbed to improve major drainage problems, would not build continuous sidewalks, would not build bike lanes, would not build medians for pedestrian safety, would not build pedestrian crossings at mid-block, and would not improve traffic flow as effectively as the proposed project.
If we don’t pass this plan, Grant will continue its decay as a dangerous, clogged roadway.
Business activity will continue to decline as customers avoid the congestion to go elsewhere. More pedestrians will be injured and killed trying to cross with no median for refuge.
The Regional Transportation Authority listened to a group of concerned central-city neighbors and small-business people along the Grant corridor and took our advice to require Corridor Area Plans not only for Grant, but also for every other road project in the plan.
This public process guarantees that the neighbors and businesses most affected by these projects will sit on the citizen committee that will help to design the improved roadways.
We can decide what parts of Grant to preserve and what blighted parts to improve.
We can build a six-lane road that is good for motorists and nearby residents.
I live on the south side of Helen Street, so my backyard is literally Speedway Boulevard.
Speedway was widened years back from five to six lanes, and I am proud to have this improved roadway as my neighbor.
It is easy and safe for my daughters and I to cross the street to Himmel Park.
Vibrant local businesses such as Casa Video and many restaurants are within walking distance.
Continuous sidewalks, bike lanes and landscaping greatly improved my neighborhood.
I don’t think anyone would want today’s run-down Grant Road in their backyard.
This is a tremendous opportunity to invest in the livability of our central city while improving crosstown mobility.
Our newly rebuilt Grant will work for neighborhoods, businesses, pedestrians and motorists.
Join me and thousands of other community-minded Tucsonans and vote “yes” on Questions 1 and 2 on May 16.
About the author: Steve Farley is a board member of the Blenman Elm Neighborhood Association.
