The Broadway Boulevard Project suffered a meltdown last week, when several members of its Citizens Task Force—apparently convened to be a flock of sheep—finally revolted against their imminent fleecing.
At the packed meeting on March 19, they railed against being hoodwinked by city transportation planners, who had diligently gathered their suggestions over more than two years, and then just as earnestly cast those recommendations aside. Even worse, city officials had simply designed the six-lane roadway they wanted, and then pretended that it had come from the citizens group.
Task force team member Colby Henley sparked the insurrection, as he rifled through a duplicitous paper trail stacked across the the conference table before him. He pulled out one transportation department memo pledging that city planners would honor the task force’s call for two dedicated mass-transit lanes in the final Broadway widening plan. He hoisted another transportation memo to Tucson’s Mayor and City Council pledging the same thing. “But somewhere between the mayor and council and the (Regional Transportation Authority) briefings, that changed,” said Henley. “It was out of the sight of the public, and I still have not received an answer about when and who changed that.”
It turns out that city staffers quietly ditched the transit-lanes option when presenting their six-lane plan to the Regional Transportation Authority. (The RTA oversees funding for this and other projects under a sweeping road plan approved by voters in 2006. The agency has repeatedly demanded that Broadway be transformed into the car-dominated behemoth mandated by voters nearly 10 years ago, and based on faulty traffic projections concocted nearly 20 years before that.)
“…I think the public process is a bit of a charade right now,” Henley continued. “If we were told to design this roadway with no strings attached, after hearing what we’ve heard at all the public meetings, if you’ll remember, the number one concern was historic preservation. And yet the one historic district that abuts this roadway is taking the brunt of the demolitions.” That would be the Rincon Heights National Register Historic District, which Henley represents on the task force. Located north of Broadway it could lose some 40 buildings under the city staff’s jerry-rigged plan.
Several other task force members then chimed in angrily, complaining about the city’s bait-and-switch. The room erupted, as hired task force “facilitator” Nanci Beizer flapped ludicrously about, trying to shepherd the conversation towards numbing, consensual bliss. When Beizer finally stopped pleading, an ashen Jenn Toothaker—the city’s Broadway project co-manager—leaned into her mic to admit that, yes, city staffers had covertly scrapped the plan actually approved by the Citizens Task Force and the Mayor and Council. And yes, all this deception was aimed at pleasing Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry and the RTA’s blade-and-pave crowd, both of whom have threatened to withhold funding unless they’re obeyed.
Contacted later, City Councilman Steve Kozachik—whose Ward 6 encompasses the Broadway project—said that Broadway project officials had squandered their credibility. “I told them this was going to implode on them, and it has. The city has come to expect citizens task forces to take the direction of staff and consultants and just follow along on a leash. But this group has finally stepped up and said, ‘Our name is on this.’ They have a right to demand of the city that whatever comes out of this task force—whether or not the RTA likes it, whether the county likes it, whether the mayor and council likes it— needs to reflect the will of the task force and what they’ve heard from the public.”
This article appears in Mar 19-25, 2015.
I was at that meeting and can confirm the account above. It was painful to watch the dissembling from officials who seemed to think they could manipulate the whole process and evade inconvenient questions. There is a serious disconnect between the authority the task force was told it had and the way project officials are treating them.
The best course of action at this point is to scrap the whole damn thing and start over. To hell with the RTA money. With property acquisition costs, lost tax revenue, increased maintenance costs, and possible construction overruns, this is going to cost the city a ton of money for absolutely no benefit.
And ONLY the people who live in that stretch have any say so or input (that was ultimately disregarded anyway) right? Because those FEW people (out of 1 million plus of Us!) we call them NIMBYS….will be telling the rest of us ….yet again.. what to do?? Please Steve Grow Up.. its time the Good of ALL outweighed the perceived “good” of the few…few..few. Time to move into the 21st century , get a smartphone, and maybe even.. gulp – Internet!
Please define “the Good of ALL”. This will cost the city tens of millions of dollars for construction, lose tens of millions more in tax revenue, and permanently saddle us with increased road maintenance costs, all to fix a traffic congestion problem that doesn’t exist, because traffic on that stretch of Broadway Blvd has not increased, and is in fact lighter than it was thirty years ago. You can check for yourself: http://www.pagnet.org/tabid/507/default.aspx
So, what are the merits of this project, and how does it benefit all county residents if it is built?
Please define “the Good of ALL”. This will cost the city tens of millions of dollars for construction, lose tens of millions more in tax revenue, and permanently saddle us with increased road maintenance costs, all to fix a traffic congestion problem that doesn’t exist, because traffic on that stretch of Broadway Blvd has not increased, and is in fact lighter than it was thirty years ago. You can check for yourself: http://www.pagnet.org/tabid/507/default.aspx
So, what are the merits of this project, and how does it benefit all county residents if it is built, taking into account the costs?
Hit the kiddie table, GuiseppeKnows, and leave this one to the adults. Those of us that grew up in Tucson (much more than those FEW that have your panties in a bunch) would like to see some of the character remain. I think Kozachik realizes this. Why? Because he, unlike you, actually seems to like Tucson.
A few people told me that there was an “official looking” video crew, but when I wrote to the city at the Broadway address, they said only TV crews were there. My friend confirmed tonight that someone taped the whole thing. Who?
I heard the speeches were eloquent against the widening. The public should hear them.
It’s good to see Tim Vanderpool writing for the Weekly again…on any topic. The management has obviously realized that hard-hitting journalism earns its keep — it’s read, attracting advertisers — whereas human (dis)interest stories merely cost money to write and are seldom read. Tucson is continually in ferment, which is how it should be in a vital community. The media (those that count, which excludes local TV and most local radio) need to remember and honor this press axiom. Thanks Paul and Thelma for bringing Tim and investigative journalism back to the Weekly.
Tucson Weekly needs to investigate who these protesters are. Are they Tucsonans (at least half aren’t)? Do they actually live within that stretched of Broadway (nah)? How about a scientific survey what Tucson wants with Broadway(at least 80 percent want 8 lanes)?
Tucson Weekly do some real scientific and journalistic investigation!
I attended the meeting and can attest to this story. I can also report that Colby Henley introduced a motion to remove the word “transit” from public communications about the project and remove the bus from the project logo, so that the public is no longer deceived about the goals of the project. Testimony also was given by a member of the Pima County Historic Commission that this project will be the most destructive of historic property since Tucson’s 1960-70s “urban renewal” to remove downtown barrios to build the convention center.
When pressed, the project manager stated that the City team has been told that County Admin. Chuck Huckleberry will not approve a narrower alignment, hence the designs submitted to the Task Force. If Mr. Huckleberry has the ultimate authority over the project, then why was a Citizens Task Force created (and money spent) to reduce the scope and influence the design? It was discussed in the meeting that the task force spent 6-8 months writing performance criteria for the project. Why was this done if the work was to be discarded?
Honestly, the only real surprise here is that the truth came out outside of a courtroom.
Here’s the biggest problem with the proposed widening: Downtown Tucson can’t handle any more traffic. As soon as you get past the snake bridge on Broadway it becomes a serious choke point. Nothing can be done about it. If you make it easier for cars to get downtown it’ll only increase the gridlock there.
I can assure you that there’s been a lively discussion on the Sam Hughes Neighborhood listserv (Broadway is the southern boundary) about the proposed widening. For the most part they are against widening to 8 lanes. Many favor a well thought approach to widening that preserves as much of the character and historical value of Broadway. Improving mass transit, would reduce the need for the proposed eight lane superhighway.
The role of the citizen’s committee has to be given more legal power. For years I’ve seen the City of Tucson use and abuse the time and people on committees. Most recently the committee to select the City Manager. They were given 2 hours to start from scratch! One bureaucrat whittled the search from 42 to 2 before this August committee was given their pathetic role. It is time for a change in the system.
Besides Kozachik, where are the rest of Mayor and Council? RTA didn’t just flip off the task force, it one-armed the City (lead agency on the project) that approved what the task force recommended and will pay to maintain the project and for any amount “over budget”. Huckelberry, as County Administrator, should realize that having a thriving commercial area that draws tourists (from across Tucson and outside it) will provide far more benefit (property taxes, sales taxes) in the long run (they are thinking long-term, aren’t they?) than another freeway-like trench of concrete.
For all their signs saying “delivering our promises” the RTA has as much stake in having any project done at all as the City does. City should tell RTA to take a hike, either fund our road our way or shove your “promises”. Voters want traffic to move around the area, not unneeded boondoggles. Put the money into pothole repair instead.
Bottom line, the traffic isn’t there, and they are going to pulverize a historic streetscape for no reason. They are like, “oh, we *have* to design this 1 mile freeway, cause we might ‘lose’ all this *free* taxpayer money!”
Tell them We Want Our POTHOLES FIXED instead. NO more new “Lanes To Nowhere”! There just isn’t enough money for ‘more’, we need to keep what we ‘already have’ usable.
broadway@tucsonaz.gov – Give ’em a piece of your mind!
Notice how the two comments siding with the RTA try to alienate the citizens who care and who will be most affected by the project, instead of actually speaking to the (lack of) merits of widening Broadway… Traffic has gone down, not up, since the early 2000’s, and destroying historic and local businesses is going to hurt, not help, our business community. It’ll also increase the dangers and difficulties for mass or alternative transit seekers like myself and further quash Tucson’s unique culture and history along Broadway. We don’t have the NIMBY attitude; we have the “come enjoy my backyard instead of demolishing it” attitude.
I drive Broadway between Euclid and Country Club on a regular basis and it is heavily congested. Broadway is a major east-west arterial roadway and it needs to be widened to at least 6 lanes. The Mayor and Council plan/ordinance to widen it to 8 lanes has been on the City’s books since the early 1990’s so no one should act surprised that it is finally getting widened. Once it does get widened and connected to the Downtown Links project (which will connect to St. Mary’s & I-10), Broadway will function much more efficiently. As far as the outcry over historic structures, I’m sorry, but dilapidated 1940’s houses that have been converted to tax offices, physic & palm reading studios, and 2nd hand clothing boutiques are not worth saving.
There is nothing wrong with Broadway, and if you cut out the damn median, you could add two transit / right turn lanes without damaging the character of the area. Where is it written in city rules that all roadways have to look alike?
I drive Broadway between Euclid and Country Club on a regular basis and it is *NOT* heavily congested. Ever. The traffic count data speaks for itself.
Rather than putting both lanes on the north side of Broadway they could keep the center of the road as is and add a lane on each side in some areas. Rather than tearing down buildings some could be moved and some rather than tearing down the entire building just tear down part of it. Other cities have done this saves money and businesses
Fix the frickin potholes!
You aren’t even capable of that.
Tucson is a one party town, and we are all paying for the ignorance of that party.
They asked me to join the Houghton Rd Corridor Committee, before the RTA was passed. I asked them why I would waste my time when they would toss out our ideas and do exactly what they wanted. But they would lie to the voters and tell them it was the committee that wanted it.
And Snyder Rd SHOULD HAVE BEEN CUT THROUGH to Sunrise Road for an inner city freeway. (Houghton to Ina)…Once they found out I supported it, they stopped talking to me.
Instead they repaved ONE lane each way on Sunrise from Kolb to Craycroft…Just brilliant!!!!
In it’s place you got bus pullouts.
Welcome to the People’s Republic of Tucson.
I am surprised that the COT was able to get anything out the door for construction.
Usually, their share of the road is built by someone else because they cannot do the environmental planning and just hand over the reins to an engineering company when it comes to actually doing design work.
The RTA was passed because of vote changing behind doors.
Wow, Tim Vanderpool needs to write more, great article.
The two potholes at the intersection of 22nd St and Alvernon were finally patched, 3 weeks after I finally reported them.
Anyone who lives here knows that we do not need 8 lanes on Broadway, I can’t believe that this was ever proposed, even 25 years ago.
Maintain the streets we do have please.
I drive regularly (day/night 6 days a week for the last 5 years) between downtown and Country Club via Broadway Rd and that area is a bottleneck. It’s getting worse by the day. The so called historic houses and businesses by that road are worth demolishing since most of them are empty.
Expand Broadway Rd to 8 lanes. Build 5 floor buildings besides the roads. Add some trees and nice vegetation. Add bike lanes, bus lanes and light rails. That area will be lively instead of slum looking with bottleneck vehicles like today.
Also, might as well expand 6th St by U of A to 8 lanes also. Tucson, if you haven’t rejected several proposals of a crosstown freeway , you wouldn’t complain about turning our roads into highways with stop lights!
I drove Broadway from west of I-10 (Congress, actually) all the way to Wilmot and back for many years. I can’t comment on the current traffic rates since it’s been several years but I always thought Broadway was a hell of a lot better for that commute than say, Speedway (or God forbid, Grant.) Yes, it can be kind of slow until you get east of Country Club but it always seemed to me I was at least moving instead of sitting at every fricking red light on Speedway. I still use Broadway when I need to head east, although heading west can be unpleasant now when you hit downtown. Not surprised to hear of the total boondoggle this “citizens’ committee” has become. I agree–just fix the stupid potholes–COT can’t even maintain the current roads. I’m a native Tucsonan, but sometimes I think I should have just chucked it and moved to Phoenix years ago. At least parts of my car wouldn’t be coming loose at this point.
I both live and work along this stretch and it is not congested. Regarding the current state of the buildings, it’s because of this ridiculous limbo we’ve been in. No one is going to invest in improving a building that may get torn down.
Do you people claiming that Broadway is ‘congested’ from Country Club to Euclid ever think that maybe you are part of the problem?* You can’t claim to get stuck in traffic if you’re in a car. YOU ARE TRAFFIC. Every person who drives alone to work/school is part of the congestion problem.**
*Even though the link posted by one of the commenters above shows that Broadway is less traveled.
**And the pothole problem, too. Look up the ‘axle load 4th power rule.’
Bravo! Good job NIMBY’s. The few making it look like the majority of Tucson agrees with ya. You flood comments like these and ‘prove’ your false advertisement. Everyone knows Broadway is congested. In fact, most of the main roads in Tucson are congested. There’s about 10-15 of you keeping Broadway as it is, ugly, while the rest of the 1 million Tucsonans want it 8 lanes. Most of you NIMBY’s don’t even live there. Downtown and the U of A are right besides this part of Broadway – CONGESTED.
Who is a stakeholder? What does someone have to do to become a recognized stakeholder?
“It is not enough that a person is merely interested as a member of the general public in the resolution of the dispute. The person must have a personal stake in the outcome of the controversy.”
Why should one stakeholder have more standing than another?
How should decision makers weigh the positions taken (values expressed) of various stakeholders? How should the presumed positions (values) of segments of the general public be included that have not been expressed?
Cyd D you should disclose you used to work for the City Transportation department.
I live in this area and work downtown and i get to and from work on broadway in 10 minutes each way.The only thing it needs is more public transportation. Only those who have another 30 minute drive ahead of them want this but sorry you chose where you live and the costs of living there.
Don only 8 lanes if the extra 2 are dedicated to light rail otherwise it is just an uneeded 8 lane road.
All of these problems stem from the fact that this city never planned for transportation issues, never built a freeway, and never put together an effective consensus plan that it’s citizen’s could get behind.
So when we see an upcoming congestion, we drive through alleys, down washes and across the desert much like the early settlers. Never mind the dust.
Not all of us want bicycles or mass transit.
If you make it a 6 lane wide roadway and dedicate the outside lane in either direction to transit, you’ll improve mobility (therefore improving capacity).
Broadway is 8 lanes further to the east, but really it’s only a 6-lane facility for the general motoring public. The transit/multi-use lane helps traffic flow. Now they just need to teach people to pay attention and drive reasonable speeds and you’d see less crashes.
Years ago, I headed a committee that tried to save a historic building downtown. We ran straight smack into the City’s desire to tear down anything it perceives as in its way. There’s been a big empty lot where that building used to be ever since.
I left Tucson because I couldn’t stand this 1950s tear-everything-down mentality. The people who run the city have no respect for history. They have no respect for the will of the people. I’m not surprised that they had a process designed to look all shiny and democratic on the outside which was ultimately subverted by the autocrats who rule. The developers have always controlled Tucson and they will continue to do so until enough people stand up to them and demand the same of their government.
I’m glad the neighborhood folks aren’t taking this lying down. Any ultimate plan should take into account the interests of all stakeholders. Not just the people on the far east end of town who want to live in the mountains and drive to work on a freeway or the developers who want to keep on raping the desert rather than providing infill in the many places where it would improve the character of the city.
Don Rollings can finally sell his land!? (How long ago did I live on 10th street before the house was bulldozed?) Really, good for him!