Despite Tucson’s copious amounts of crosswalks, being a pedestrian in Old Pueblo means taking your life in your hands.
Many motorists have neither patience nor tolerance for pedestrians, with 2010 Tucson Police Department statistics showing seven pedestrians hit and killed by vehicles and 210 hit and injured, with 52 of them hit and runs. Statistics from 2011 are even worse, with at least 16 pedestrians killed by vehicles and 220 injured, with a total of 71 hit and runs.
Man versus car does not fare well for the man.
All that could soon change, at least in a little pocket of town, with Mayor Jonathan Rothchild’s revival of a long-dead proposal of making Congress Street open to pedestrians only. The proposal was shot down in the past, and may be again because it still has one big problem: it’s much too limited.
Shutting off Congress to traffic will only make the die-hard drivers shuttle their vehicles to the surrounding streets, making them more clogged up and blocked than they already are. To truly benefit from transforming any downtown area into a pedestrian-only jubilee, the proposal needs to go the whole hog to get rid of road hogs and make all of downtown vehicle-free.
Those who cry and moan that’s there is nothing to see downtown don’t go there anyway, so it would not matter either way if cars, trucks, buses and those strangle little vehicles that look like motorized shoe boxes are allowed or banned.
The rest of the downtown complaints are valid and could even be fixed with a no-traffic downtown proposal. For starters, it’s not like there is ample parking down there. Unless you happen to have a Jetson car which folds neatly into an easily portable briefcase, you’ll end up circling the blocks for eons while trying not to make a wrong-way turn down one of the one-way streets.
Lots and areas that used to provide free parking are tough to come by. Two were recently annihilated with one being transformed into a paid parking area while the other was fenced off and filled with cinder blocks. Metered parking can be a joke since it involves high-tailing it back to feed the thing every so often after subjecting your car to dents, dings and scratches from that contortionist activity called parallel parking.
Jaunting about downtown is another joke, especially in a vehicle. The traffic moves slower than a limping dog, which means you could walk faster than you can drive and there is not much point in driving. Wrong-way turns, red-light runners and motorists texting down Broadway add layers of danger to crossing the road.
Making downtown traffic-free could turn the imbecilic set-up into a pedestrian oasis where people are free to stroll, jaunt and window-shop without worrying about being rundown by an impatient SUV. Granted, we’d have to get a bit more windows to shop in, but once shop keepers realize how so much downtown foot traffic can benefit their businesses, they may be breaking down the empty storefronts to be first to sign the lease.
Of course people will still need to drive to get downtown in the first place, in which case a perimeter of parking can be established around the central pedestrian-only zone. Any parking facilities that fall into the vehicle-free area can easily be transformed into open-air markets, such as the annual parking garage flea mart in Royal Oak, Michigan, that sells an array of wacky items that once included a medieval mace.
Walking can improve your health, elevate your mood and create some killer butt muscles, but it’s evident not enough folks enjoy it. If we eliminate the traffic puttering willy-nilly through downtown, we’ll have a prime walking zone that benefits many. Those who would rather drive than walk a half-block to a coffee shop can get their java elsewhere. They can steer clear of downtown — literally — and let the pedestrians play.
There are plenty of places around town where you can sit trapped in traffic, enjoy a walk about town without getting mowed down. Downtown should be one of them.
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Ryn Gargulinski, aka Rynski, is a writer, artist, performer and poet. Her column runs in the “Tucson Weekly” print edition monthly and weekly on Friday on “The Range.” See more writing and art from RYNdustries at ryngargulinski.com and rynski.etsy.com.
This article appears in Jan 12-18, 2012.
Ryn but you’ve always been one of the downtown naysayers with a platform. Maybe it hasn’t always been to your liking but its always been cool which tells me you are not one of us. The way you and skull and crossbones carried on at the citizen as uber annoying. I don’t think you know enough about who and what is downtown to make such a judgement so you are the last person I’d listen to when it comes to downtown.
Maybe I’m just superhuman (or possessed with superhuman patience), but I don’t have any problem driving around downtown and never have trouble finding a parking space, especially with the new garages, which are quite convenient (and, as the morning daily has noted, almost never used by anyone, so there are plenty of spaces). I prefer driving in downtown over driving down Grant Road or getting caught in traffic on Oracle near Tucson Mall.
I think that would be a great idea. To make downtown a walking area. I’ve seen it in other cities and it is very nice. Of course there needs to be something to walk to.
NOW about the pedestrians in this town. Everyday I am stunned and shocked at the way people mosey across the street with the flashing orange hand clearly stating, “DO NOT WALK”. I have wondered for a long time how long before one of them gets knocked out of the way. People are not paying attention even when they are in the crosswalks. It is very frustrating, and scary.
Hey Nintz – you lucky duck! how cool you have the superhuman parking gene. where can i get one? hahaha. i am on the opposite end of the spectrum and have trouble getting parking just about anywhere. i was having luck with those two sneaky lots, but now one wants money and the other is gone.
in any event, i’ll agree driving down grant or caught near tucson mall is at least equally as harrowing as wrong-way down one-way alameda can be.
Hi Rebecca – I also agree the pedestrians play a big part in their fatality rate. some glare as if to dare drivers to hit them (while crossing in all-black at night) while others, as you noted, seem to have no clue as to what’s going on around them.
as for downtown, i think it is a gas and could be made better as a pedestrian-only zone. i already enjoy the second saturdays, rialto concerts (like woodstock!!), the recent artscape on toole project and i even had a blast one day killing time during jury duty down there. it has a lot of fun stuff – that i would enjoy even more with easier (walking) access.
thanks, nintz and rebecca, for input.
Traffic jams seem to distress disorganized individuals.
Not a bad idea Rynski…shut downtown off from motorized vehicles. All of it. You would of course have to find a way to get judges and the city clowncil to work. You just know they would squawk to high heaven about an exemption for their elitist fat asses. 😉 I think the ban would be attractive personally, as my main gripe about downtown is parking/congestion. There is always something going on there.
Yet another timely piece media maven, you seem to have your finger on the barely perceptible pulse of the sleepy pueblo. 🙂
I wonder what the Congress Street business owners would think about that plan? I’m inclined to think that they’d be opposed, since they may rely on through traffic for exposure to their businesses. (e.g., the Rialto & Fox marquees)
I’ve often felt that limiting Congress to pedestrians/bikes would be a great idea, but I wouldn’t go so far as limiting all of downtown to pedestrian traffic.
It’s unfortunate that Broadway isn’t wide enough through downtown to provide 2 lanes in each direction, as that would make the decision easier. You could then give westbound drivers the option of going west on Broadway, northwest on Toole, or north on 4th Ave. Limit Congress to pedestrians/bikes (and the street car) from the Rialto to Stone.
It’s a nice idea but no business friendly at all. I guess those of us who work downtown (1,000s of us) don’t count in this equation. What about the businesses that rely on deliveries? What about those that need to business with the city or the county? What about those that want to visit the library? What are you going to do about the bus routes – like the ones that bring students to City High School and the U of A?
Why not shut down Congress for 2nd Saturdays and other events, not permanently. Closing it down completely would be a death nell (again) for downtown. People drive downtown (those that don’t work there) for shows, restaurants and to shop.
Contrary to popular belief, there IS plenty of parking downtown.
Really, people? Parking and congestion are problems downtown? Coming from a major city, I find both transiting downtown streets and parking to be extraordinarily easy. Sure, one must pay for parking in a convenient place … but that’s the case the world over. Downtown’s not a problem at all. Perhaps one should think of restricting traffic on 4th Avenue instead of congress.
I actually find driving downtown one of the least stressful driving experiences in Tucson.
Beyond that, I don’t see how this would work. others have already gone into the reasons why, so I won’t repeat them.
I thought that something else was in the works–that Congress and 4th Ave would no longer be shut down to traffic except for the street fair. Did I imagine reading that somewhere?
And perhaps I should add, I find being a pedestrian downtown far less frightening than, say, on Broadway and Craycroft. There are many places in Tucson that I would never walk (and forget riding a bike… not on these streets), but downtown isn’t one of them.
If we are really serious about solving the problem of pedestrians getting hit, then we need more cops on the road. Lots more. Patrols and speed traps have the nice effect of slowing people down. Speaking of, the speed limits of our roads need to be lowered by 5 to 10 mph. Far too many roads here seem like freeways, and last I checked, pedestrians were not allowed on freeways.
look at it from a shoppers point of view!!!he or she goes into one of the many stores and buys merchandize from them(question)how are they supposed to carry all their wares to wherever their car is parked? Shopping carts? they will simply only buy enough to carry comfortably.what about the bus depot?people use bus transportation to get in and out of downtown?its not as simple as they make it sound.however i am if favor of closing it down to foot traffic only. now that is a true romney position.hehe.
There’s a great first step (with potential!) to cope with downtown traffic. First, encourage Golf Carts (electric, preferably) as a major downtown vehicle. Give GCs free parking in downtown parking spaces, with a few charging stations.
Potential: Better yet, abolish ALL student automobiles from the UA campus, and allow only GCs for students. Even better yet, forbid high school drivers from driving anything except GCs!
NOTE: GCs are a made in USA product. They are ideal in our weather. I’ve been driving mine for six years and am astonished that every Tucsonan who lives within 4 miles of City Hall does not have one. They’re great for getting groceries. A jaunt to the drugstore for meds is a perfect use. Remember, they are – with certain obvious cheap add-on equipment – street legal for all streets posted at 35 mph or less. Making Tucson a GC Friendly city would do more for the environment than all of the foo-for-aw about bicycles (I have one and love it for alternative stuff, but it’s not for shopping…) that should be permitted only on side streets and banned from all major streets.
Incidentally, most drivers are sympathetic to the limited speed of GCs, as long as the GC driver is careful not to let traffic pile up behind them. Occasionally some impatient road rage person will dangerously zoom past me before I have a chance to pull off. Experience shows, however, that in 99 percent of the cases where someone does that, the driver is a woman!
Don’t you think the Weekly should have a feature on GCs?
And for those of us who need to go through downtown to get to St. Mary’s or West Campus, Do you propose that we drive ten miles out of our way and waste expensive fuel just to avoid your little pocket of pedestrian only thoroughfare?
I think the businesses that depend on traffic to stay open need to have a little input into this issue as well.
Sorry Ryn, but I didn’t see how many pedestrians downtown were among the victims of the dreaded vehicle traffic. I’d guess most of those were driven over in the outlying areas of the desert, say, near Speedway and Park. We need more than a peds-free zone to eliminate those injuries. How about a message that pops upon your iPad screen every 10 seconds to remind those who insist on reading while wandering afoot that they, too, need to observe those pesky traffic control devices.
Limited access to motor vehicles makes sense for the evening events along Congress, but for daytimers who need to access business and government offices, keep things open. And with Jim Glock gone now..how about some sensible planning for the roadways in the central (former) business district?