The City of Tucson is working on two new bike HAWKs to make crossing busy streets a bit easier.
Tucson’s bicycle and pedestrian coordinator Ann Chanecka said they will be adding the signals to the intersection of Ninth Street and Campbell Avenue and Grant Road and Sahuara Avenue.
A bike HAWK is similar to a lighted crossing signals common around the region, but adds amenities making it accessible to cyclists.
The two new bike HAWKs have been something the city wanted to do for a while.
“They have actually been on the books for a while to get HAWKs, but because they both are pretty high bike areas and future bike boulevards, we rate going to make them bike HAWKS,” Chanecka said.
The cost for a bike HAWK is generally between $100,000-125,000.
Read about Tucson’s first bike HAWK here.
Looking forward to having the 9th/Campbell crossing and getting one step closer to making the 9th St Bike Blvd (greenway? paseo?) a reality. Important to make these neighborhood connections as easy and safe as possible. Thanks Ann for moving these forward!
Be VERY careful when using these crossings. As in, make sure that every motor vehicle is stopped before putting a toe into the crosswalk. I’ve seen too many instances of drivers blowing through these crossings, even when the signal says “stop.”
Every little step forward is great news! I would love to see a city/local media partnership that maybe devotes a regular small segment of the news to alert and educate pedestrians, bicycle riders, and drivers to the alternate transportation infrastructure cropping up in our Old Pueblo, and how to use/understand what the signs and paint is all about. Make it inclusive.
For what I’ve seen, there is a lack of general knowledge and information about these things in the community at large. For example, I was at our neighborhood association board meeting earlier this month, and discussion turned towards some exciting bicycle-themed things that are coming up for us (Yay!), and Cyclovia was mentioned…and a good number of the folks there had never heard of it! Likewise, the (soon to be re-named) Bicycle Boulevards. There just does not seem to be much dissemination of “bike” info, outside of the “bike” community. My opinion (and that is all it is) is that we need to keep focusing on changing that. And that we need to combat any “elitist” perceptions, by not being bike snobs. You’d be surprised at how many folks do not ride, because they can’t afford the “right” bike…so they just give up. That needs to end.
Again, just my two cents. =)
@Gabrielle Thank you for making these points. The bike snob perception is a lot more widespread than we think.
MarthaRetallick Yes, I have witness many cars roll through them…especially on busier streets like Campbell.
Something needs to be done there, but I think a refuge island would be better than a light. There are plenty of breaks in the traffic to allow you to get half way at a time. Ultimately, improving this intersection just highlights the issue that the 9th St. alignment has numerous barriers along its length. It dead-ends at El Con Mall, then there’s a wall along Arcadia just south of Rincon HS that blocks the way. There’s also a wash north of Target that’s another barrier. There is no route at all between Craycroft and Wilmot, and you have a wash at the half way point between Wilmot and Kolb. I’d love to see all these barriers get punctured because I live on this alignment but I’m not going to hold my breath.
does 100 grand seem a little steep to anybody else?
dirtybiker It’s actually not that bad for the government. When you start to factor in the light itself, the utility modification to get electricity to it, the installation, traffic studies and regulations they have to meet it’s not exorbitant. Maybe I have doing this long enough that the prices don’t shock me anymore. When I first started, they certainly did.
The 9th Street crossing is obvious and will be welcomed by this 8th Street resident. The Sahuara/Grant one, though, is a pleasant surprise that will allow me to miss a couple miles of Craycroft during my street portage from the Pantano path to the Rillito path.