The city of Tucson is adding a four-block long protected bicycle lane to Stone Avenue that also includes pedestrian crosswalks and planted swales to harvest rainwater.
The city of Tucson has been working on a four-block stretch of Stone Avenue that is building new protected bicycle lanes and pedestrian crosswalks.
The project adds to a similar program just north of the new area that was completed a few years ago.
"We had some money available to resurface the street and fix the pavement. And when we did that, we realized there was an opportunity to take a look at all the elements of the street and really wanted to make sure that we're providing a safe, accessible street for everybody who uses the street, no matter how they choose to travel," says Collin Chesston, a senior project manager with the city's Transportation and Mobility Department.
Chesston says community members really wanted protected bicycle lanes with physical barriers versus just painting lines to designate use for bicycles or cars.
"So we're trying to deliver that," he adds.
"We have a variety of strategies that we're using to increase transportation options, including low cost, healthy, active kinds of transportation. And so bicycling is definitely one of those options."
This project and others are part of a larger vision to increase options for bicycling in the city.
"One of the things we're doing is we're trying to build a network of bicycle boulevards throughout the city. And a lot of that is happening through our Proposition 407 program," Chesston explains.
"This project is funded through a different funding source. It's Proposition 411, which was passed a couple of years ago by the voters, and that is really focused on safety improvements."
In order to accomplish the current project, Chesston says planners are having to make some changes to part of Stone Avenue.
"We're reconfiguring the street and in some blocks we are losing a lane of traffic. Although in some other lanes we were able to keep all the lanes that we had and just narrow them up because we had some overly wide lanes, which actually encourages people to drive faster. So we narrowed those up and hopefully we'll get a decrease in traffic speeds, which is better for safety for everybody."
The current projected, which is also partnering with Tucson Water to build landscaped swales that will harvest rainwater for the plants, is expected to be finished in early December 2024.
The city of Tucson is adding a four-block long protected bicycle lane to Stone Avenue that also includes pedestrian crosswalks and planted swales to harvest rainwater.
Collin Chesston is a senior project manager with Tucson's Transportation and Mobility Department. In this photo, he is standing just east of the main public library on Stone Avenue.
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