Sat, Nov 21, 2009

Tucson Region

City Council to weigh placement of Barraza-Aviation extension

By Andrea Kelly
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.07.2008
The City Council may put an end Tuesday to a sometimes bitter debate about where a new road north of Downtown will go.
The council will consider a community group's recommendation for a new road connecting the Barraza-Aviation Parkway with the Interstate 10 frontage road.
The group, made up of Down- town neighbors and transportation and business representatives, voted 11-3 to recommend the road go northwest from where it ends at Broadway and run parallel to the Union Pacific Railroad tracks to North Seventh Avenue.
It would then continue north on Seventh Avenue, then west near Sixth Street. The road would curve about a half-block north of where Sixth Street is now, and Sixth Street would be closed in that area. The project also includes an underpass at the railroad tracks.
Supporters of the alignment have said they are happy it does not require demolition of the historic Citizens or Steinfeld warehouses near Ninth Avenue and Sixth Street, or the demolition of the Stone Avenue Underpass.
Opponents say the road, and demolition of other buildings in the area, will be disruptive to the neighborhoods north of Downtown.
If the recommended alignment is approved, seven buildings north of Sixth Street will be demolished. Four are state-owned, and three are privately owned buildings.
None of the buildings is in the historic Warehouse District.
The $84.6 million project will be largely paid for with Regional Transportation Authority funding, and some federal funding.
Once the City Council approves an alignment, the Citizens Advisory Committee will work on design and land-use features for the road and the surrounding area.
If the council does not approve the alignment recommended by the committee, the Tucson Department of Transportation will wait for council direction on how to move forward with the road construction plans, said Michael Graham, department spokesman.
Regional transportation officials have promised voters every project in the plan will be completed.
The Regional Transportation Authority's 20-year transportation plan and half-cent sales tax were approved by voters in 2006.
● Contact reporter Andrea Kelly at 573-4243 or akelly@azstarnet.com.