Six-mile urban greenway planned
Doug Kreutz
A planned urban trail for walkers and cyclists will trace a route where trains once chugged.
The six-mile El Paso and Southwestern Greenway is designed as a car-free corridor - following the line of an abandoned railway from north of downtown Tucson through South Tucson to the Kino Sports Complex.
One short segment of the route has been completed, and funding is in place for the next phase of the $10 million, multi-year project.
"The downtown area lacks low-stress ways to get around by bike or foot. This corridor will be an alternative to traveling on the main streets," said Tom Thivener, project manager with the Tucson Department of Transportation.
"The greenway also provides an important historic connection," Thivener said, noting that the route passes a onetime depot, a railroad roundhouse and a century-old railroad bridge.
"It will connect neighborhoods such as Dunbar Spring, Barrio Anita, El Presidio, Barrio Viejo, Barrio Santa Rosa and the city of South Tucson."
RAILWAY TO GREENWAY
The planned route of the greenway trail:
• Begins at West University Boulevard and North Main Avenue, at the western end of the University Bikeway.
• Runs south and passes along the western edge of downtown parallel to Interstate 10.
• Continues south past St. Mary's Road, Congress Street and 22nd Street.
• Enters South Tucson near West 29th Street and angles southeast along the old railroad corridor.
• Proceeds past Tucson Greyhound Park and exits South Tucson.
• Continues generally east, crosses South Park Avenue, and then runs southeast to cross South Kino Parkway and ends at the Kino Sports Complex.
WORK IN PROGRESS
After preliminary planning work, one short segment of the greenway - extending from Cushing Street to Simpson Street - was completed in 2009.
Planning, funded by the Regional Transportation Authority, is continuing.
"The next piece will be from Simpson Street to 22nd Street," Thivener said. "That will cost about $600,000. We have a federal grant for $500,000, and RTA funds are secured to pay an additional $100,000. It's going through the environmental clearance and design process."
Construction of the three-quarter-mile segment is expected to begin in about two years. Thivener said the overall construction time frame is indefinite because it depends on how quickly additional federal funding becomes available.
He said the route is being designed with street overpasses where necessary and with connections to other pedestrian and cycling paths.
One example: "There will be a connection to 18th Street," Thivener said. "It's a great bike route that connects to the Santa Cruz River Trail."
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