The newly opened connection between the Santa Cruz and Rillito River paths is closed until Sept. 9.
Diane Luber, the county’s spokeswoman said the county is working on the connection. Here is what she wrote in a press release on the TucsonCitizen.com blog:
Pima County, Ariz. – The Pima County Regional Flood Control District and its contractor, The Ashton Company, are performing concrete work and graffiti removal on the multi-use path on the south bank of the Rillito River to improve the underpass where the path goes under Interstate 10 and the frontage roads.
That portion of the Rillito River path will be closed during the construction work. This project is expected to be completed by Sept. 9.
It’s sad news that the path will be closed, but it’s great news that it will be even better when it opens again in 2 weeks!
I was out there last night and saw that the south side on-ramp to take the path up onto the frontage road bridge over the Rillito is already graded and may be ready to pave. Mike, (Matt, if you see this) do you know if they’ll also have the connection over the Rillito done by September 9th?
This is getting very exciting, decades of hoping and waiting is finally becoming reality.
The 29th St to St Mary’s section is also for all intents and purposes closed. You have to keep switching sides of the Santa Cruz to get anywhere. Congress to halfway to 22nd St on the west bank is completely fenced off now and the section opposite Barrio Kroger Lane has an impossible to decipher detour that leads you on to the freeway access road sidewalk where you ride through the driveways of motels going against traffic if you’re headed north. Once you get to congress it’s time to cross to the west bank because the east bank is entirely blocked off all the way to St Mary’s.
This is my experience of the river paths. That you need either a guide or a secret map for that day to actually navigate them. They end up being useless for actually getting anywhere. I understand the logistical difficulties involved, the mall property etc but that you can’t just get on the damn thing and ride is more than frustrating. Many people will try to use the paths as connections and just give up. Better signage would really help. Those new pointing circle arrow things on the 4th Ave Bike Boulevard are definitely a step in the right direction. I’m guessing they won’t be tagged as often as the signs along the Aviation path are. Good luck finding the Treat connection if you don’t already know where it is. That sign is nearly always completely obscured by tags.
The first time I rode the path from downtown to the Rillito I got utterly lost. Sure it was fun to explore the little nooks and crannies along the Santa Cruz and scrambling down the drainage channel and then back up on the Rillito to get back to the path which had suddenly ended was kind of fun but sometimes you just want to ride and get somewhere. Her’s hoping this all gets solved as these last few connections are finalised and signed.
I think that the graffiti removal will be an ongoing headache. And, when it comes to this particular eyesore, I think that the penalties need to be a lot stricter.
We’re shooting for it 3Wheeler but more likely it will be in mid-October if all goes well. We’re working with the Town of Marana to connect the path all the way up to their library and to the existing Santa Cruz paths north of Ina Road. For now it will have to be an at-grade crossing at Ina similar to Ruthrauff until there’s future funding for underpasses.
We also have plans to relocate/eliminate a number of bollards (posts) along the pathway such as at the bridges and at some of the roadway crossings. We should be able to remove the bollards at the new bridges and also will make sure the holes are covered and metal tabs are cut off. At the pathway entrances that intersect with roads, we’ll need to keep in the center posts but will move the outer posts to just outside the edge of paved path, allowing 6 feet in between each post.
Sorry for all the issues along the pathways so please have a little patience with us, but also if you have specific concerns please let us know. I have an assessment being prepared right now to document all of the items we’d like to address. Everything’s moving very fast including along the south bank of the Rillito so there are lots of issues and details that we need to take care of. Thanks.
Thanks for the extra information, Matt. I thought 2 weeks would be a little fast for the Rillito frontage road bridge connection, but October is very, very good too.
As for the bollards, I think you’re talking about the ones at all the new bike/ped bridges along the Santa Cruz north of Grant. I agree, the space is a bit tight between them now. One in 10 times I hit a mirror on my trike as I blast between them.
Since almost nothing of significance happened on these paths for ages, and the last 5 years the improvements have been coming in ever bigger waves, I have no problem with waiting a few months for some minor tweeks. I have no problem at all.
Take care, and thanks for all your work on these projects!
The 29th St to St Mary’s section is also for all intents and purposes closed. You have to keep switching sides of the Santa Cruz to get anywhere. Congress to halfway to 22nd St on the west bank is completely fenced off now and the section opposite Barrio Kroger Lane has an impossible to decipher detour that leads you on to the freeway access road sidewalk where you ride through the driveways of motels going against traffic if you’re headed north. Once you get to congress it’s time to cross to the west bank because the east bank is entirely blocked off all the way to St Mary’s. This is my experience of the river paths. That you need either a guide or a secret map for that day to actually navigate them. They end up being useless for actually getting anywhere. I understand the logistical difficulties involved, the mall property etc but that you can’t just get on the damn thing and ride is more than frustrating. Many people will try to use the paths as connections and just give up. Better signage would really help. Those new pointing circle arrow things on the 4th Ave Bike Boulevard are definitely a step in the right direction. I’m guessing they won’t be tagged as often as the signs along the Aviation path are. Good luck finding the Treat connection if you don’t already know where it is. That sign is nearly always completely obscured by tags.The first time I rode the path from downtown to the Rillito I got utterly lost. Sure it was fun to explore the little nooks and crannies along the Santa Cruz and scrambling down the drainage channel and then back up on the Rillito to get back to the path which had suddenly ended was kind of fun but sometimes you just want to ride and get somewhere. Her’s hoping this all gets solved as these last few connections are finalised and signed.