A new path north of the Highland Avenue underpass allows cyclists to avoid the congested Mountain Avenue and Helen Street intersection.
The University of Arizona planned to complete the path in two years when a building the university is working on will be completed. The Tucson-Pima County Bicycle Advisory Committee and members and general public urged the UA’s transportation department to complete the project sooner in light of the closing of the Warren Avenue underpass to bicyclists.
Responding to the feedback, the UA completed the path in just over two months.
The path was one of the recommendations suggested in the UA Bike/Pedestrian Study released last year and cost an estimated $19,000 to complete.
The path stretches from Helen to Mabel Streets and will allow north and south-bound cyclists to avoid the congested intersection of Helen Street and Mountain Avenue. The intersection is a feeder for two parking garages on either side of Mountain Avenue.
Nice! We’ve been trying to find funding for that for about five years. A big congratulations to Charles Franz from the UA for perservering and making it happen.
That is great, but why didn’t they put it in when they built the garage in the first place? It would’ve been cheaper that way.
Not understanding how this path is or ever was a county task, Matt Zoll. Anyway, signage and stripping are next, Charles Franz? What about eventual rainwater drainage? If not properly dealt with in the hurried spasmodic “…just over two months…”, will rainwater undermine the path and put the tardy implementation back to square one?
“Tis so much easier to complain, or point out the erring ways of others … not only is the glass half full, but it is the wrong kind of glass.
I’ve assisted the UA for the past 11 years on various projects and safety outreach, plus I also serve on a regional committee that awards funding for projects such as this.
Thanks for installing this, much needed!
@Matt Zoll Now that we know of this, thank you for your good work!
@Randy Garmon Of course. And, if it’s worth doing it’s worth doing well.
@Matt Zoll Matt, five years to find $19,000 at the U of A…..you should have looked in the couches.
I want to know why Tucson cant seem to fix the roads we drive on but they can add unneeded bike paths everywhere
microrex21
What do you call an unneeded bike path? I’ve ridden every bike path in this town and I haven’t seen any that were unneeded. In fact, I’d say we need twice as many as we have already. As for the roads being shot, blame that on fools who were on the city counsel. They blew money on things that were really stupid, unlike bike paths. Are you aware that bike paths encourage people to exercise, thus reducing the enormous healthcare costs this country has. Bike paths attract tourists and their money to our town. They also attract new residents, and their money. The bumpy roads will get fixed because politicians get voted out of office for such things. Anyway, government projects are done by compartmentalized budgets and funding. You could be dying but couldn’t spend a dime for your condition from the lemonade budget. Tiny King, it looks like you need to stop pounding your car over the neglected streets and start riding on the new, smooth bike paths. You’ll love it!
microrex21 Gasoline is under taxed, gasoline tax revenues get diverted to other things (not bike things) and other places in the Grand Canyon State. Bad road conditions are a nationwide infrastructure problem, not just the Old Pueblo…the car trough at which so many feed has been running dry for years, little by little by little.
The good news is you could integrate bikes and ped into the get-around part of your daily life…
3wheeler microrex21 Hmm could it be that the funding sources for the 2 different types of projects are not the same? A lot of the recent bicycle improvements are being funded by the RTA. I think if you want to understand why roadways are in disrepair you need to look north to the Arizona State Legislature. All those fees we all pay for the privilege of operatingmotor vehicles on the public utility we call roadways go into a fund called the Highway User Revenue Fund. The state legislature has swept these funds for the past several years with the result being cities and counties haven’t been getting their share back of the gas taxes etc. For more on the HURF see,
http://www.azdot.gov/Inside_ADOT/FMS/Hurfund.asp
3wheeler, nice coinage. Tiny King. I kinda think that post was a troll anyhow but hey why not answer it? I haven’t tried the new connection yet but I’m looking forward to it. I’ve certainly gone overland along that route prior to the addition. With the loss of the Warren underpass to the Modern Street scar we need some viable alternatives.