From the Arizona Daily Star, By Andrea Kelly, April 27, 2007

Tucson on right track, U.S. transport chief says

Tucson is moving in the right direction to solve its transportation needs, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters said Thursday.

Working as a region, via the Regional Transportation Authority, and adding transit options, including the high-capacity streetcar to central Tucson, will help solve some of the congestion issues, said Peters, who is here for a meeting among North American transportation officials.

She will meet today with the Mexican secretary of communications and transportation, Luis Téllez, and the Canadian minister of transport, infrastructure and communities, Lawrence Cannon.

But first, she took time to tour parts of Tucson and witness firsthand some of the mobility issues.

During the morning rush, she saw trains passing through the street-level railroad crossing at West Sixth Street and North Ninth Avenue, with cars backing up in both directions waiting for the train to pass.

This crossing, and others like it, cause safety and congestion issues. But putting in an underpass, like the crossings at West Speedway or Stone Avenue, are expensive.

One such project is planned, she was told, as part of the extension of Barraza-Aviation Parkway across the north side of Downtown to the freeway.

The secretary also took a tour of the modern streetcar route, beginning at University Medical Center and ending Downtown.

She said she was encouraged by the opportunity for "a walkable community" along the streetcar route, as transit-oriented development such as housing and amenities are planned along the route.

 

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