Big win for 1st Ave Complete Street + signs of movement at the RTA

(Above) The City of Tucson’s preferred—and community-endorssed—”complete streets” cross section for 1st Avenue

As the RTA (our region’s half-cent sales tax to fund regional transportation) wraps up its first 20-year transportation investment plan and works to build the next plan to go before voters, we at Living Streets Alliance are among many in the region who have had concerns about transparency within the organization (Pima Association of Governments, in which RTA is housed/managed), management of the plans, and misalignment between what Tucsonans have voiced as their priorities and what actually gets funded and built.

The March 23, 2023 meeting of the RTA Board finally produced some positive legal actions for the completion of RTA 1 projects, as well as the development of RTA Next. Here’s a brief recap:

1. Tucson Mayor Romero proposed and won the advancement of the Intergovernmental Agreement (as previously voted on by Tucson Mayor and Council) to complete the First Avenue project from River Road to Grant Road as an enhanced 4-lane roadway with traffic calming and safety improvements, instead of a 6-lane widening. This is is a big deal in that the 4-lane configuration takes much more of a “complete streets” approach, ensuring that the enhance roadway will be safer and more comfortable for everyone using it, no matter who they are or how they get around.

After over a year of PAG/RTA staff opposition to Tucson's proposal to amend the project to fit recent traffic projections and address serious safety concerns, the IGA approval is a win for the many residents and businesses who have strongly supported the change. You can check out the robust outreach done by Tucson Dept. of Transportation & Mobility and the results here.

2. A motion made by Pima County Supervisor Scott and seconded by Mayor Romero instructed PAG/RTA staff to provide the Technical Management Committee (TMC) and Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) with 'all information necessary to make recommendations to the RTA Board on the roadway element,' and to 'enable comprehensive discussion and recommendations to the Board on all RTA plan elements (roadway, transit, safety, environmental/economic vitality)'. 

This motion comes in response to several members of the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) who have voiced their concerns about lack of transparency and accountability in the RTA Next planning process, as well as suppression of conversations around topics like equity and climate change during development of the plan. It’s a big deal because the CAC is charged with making recommendations to the RTA Board and to date their requests to be able to request agenda items and information and have meaningful conversations has essentially been compromised by design of the meetings. Their actions have also been misrepresented in the public record, often giving a false impression of the discussion that’s been had and the decision that was arrived at. PAG leadership has a lot to do with this.

While there is still a LONG way to go to get RTA Next into alignment with the needs and vision of Tucsonans, as captured in Move Tucson, these two small developments are no less a step in the right direction. LSA will continue to follow and advocate for the equitable implementation and development of RTA transportation plans as they shape our regional transportation future.