Mailbag

Some Thoughts on the Intersection of Kolb and Valencia

I read with some interest "The Bright Stuff" (Currents, Aug. 2). Michael Farley is discovering how difficult it really is to do business in Pima County and Tucson.

I'd love to see some business development at Valencia and Kolb roads, something more than just gas stations. Now the county says it has the brilliant idea of making the intersection "parkway-at-grade." That's ridiculous—and what's even more insane is letting anyone connected with municipal government near this area. The last "improvement" was a multiple-turn lane for traffic on southbound Kolb turning right on to Valencia Road. This just might be the most-underused multiple turn lane in the metropolitan area. Conversely, the single turn lane for southbound Kolb traffic to turn left onto Valencia Road is almost always overloaded, especially at peak traffic. Left-turning traffic stretches for almost a mile back down Kolb at certain times. It certainly would have been a better idea to put in multiple left-turn lanes.

The city and the county should leave this intersection alone unless they are willing to fix what they've messed up, and they should give Mr. Farley a chance to develop some much-needed business entities around this intersection.

A. Roy Olson


A Comment From a Reader at TucsonWeekly.com

Regarding Danehy, Aug. 9:

I sympathize with your irritation at the "around 15 items" business, but I expect the grocery-store people are tired of seeing epic battles being fought in the checkout line over No. 16, a pack of Tic-Tacs. I myself rigorously adhere to the under-15 rule—to the point where I agonize over the status of two-for-one items. I will read the Supreme Court's decision on this matter with considerable interest.

—Garth Gould


Correction

In "Dupnik Doubters" (Currents, Aug. 9), we switched the names of Terry Frederick and Walt Setzer in the photos' caption. We apologize for the mistake.