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Road Projects In Oro Valley To Cost $42M
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By Megan Rutherford
More than $42 million is being poured into about seven miles of Oro Valley roads to alleviate traffic congestion and improve safety. On July 16, the Town Council unanimously approved a plan to bill 30 property owners in the area of North Oracle Road between East Pusch View Lane and North First Avenue for $7.1 million in improvements along Oracle.
Other road projects on Pusch View, West Lambert Lane, First and other sections of Oracle are also planned. Those projects are being financed by the town of Oro Valley and state transportation funds.
The 30 property owners are in what is called an improvement district. According to state law, a city or town can form an improvement district to pay for road work if the improvements will benefit private property owners.
The Oracle Road Improvement District project will include:
* The widening of Oracle from four to six lanes, including the installation of curbs, sidewalks, landscaping and signs.
* A new traffic light on First between the Fry's and Home Depot shopping centers.
* An improved traffic light at Oracle and Pusch View.
* Added left- and right-turn lanes at the intersections of Oracle and Pusch View and Oracle and First.
* The widening of a short section of First from two to four lanes.
* The widening of a short section of Pusch View from two to four lanes.
While the final cost to property owners along Oracle will probably go down, Town Engineer Bill Jansen said the town wanted to prepare property owners for the worst possible scenario.
All the property owners who will be asked to pay for the project are commercial entities, including the Home Depot, Albertsons and Fry's shopping centers.
The largest property is the 60-acre Oro Valley Town Centre east of Oracle between Pusch View and First. Jansen said the owners of that property, Cañada Del Oro Partners, will be assessed more than $2 million as part of the district.
Cañada Del Oro Partners will only be assessed for about 45 acres because the assessment is based on total developable acreage, said Nick Bokaie, vice president of RS Engineering, the consultant overseeing the improvement district project. Property owners in the district can protest their assessments and if the protesters are responsible for at least half of the assessment amount, the district must be terminated, said Scott Ruby, the contracted lawyer overseeing the project.
Jansen said he is unaware of any opposition to the improvement district.
Marilyn Cook, a five-year Oro Valley resident, lives in a subdivision north of Oracle and First. She drives through the section of Oracle that will be improved at least every other day when she goes to check her post office box. "We all shop at Fry's or Target," she said. "It's the business hub of the city." Cook said she is looking forward to improved traffic flow through the area once the road work is done. "It will take a tremendous load off First Avenue," she said.
The other projects planned are the state Department of Transportation's widening of Oracle between East Calle Concordia and Pusch View and between East La Reserve Drive and East Tangerine Road. The state is spending $10 million on the project, which is expected to begin in the next two years. Oro Valley is widening First from two to four lanes from the Cañada del Oro Wash to Tangerine. The project will include the bridge over the river. The town is also extending Pusch View over the Cañada del Oro to Lambert. Both projects are expected to cost more than $18 million; work should begin the first part of 2004, Jansen said. The start date was pushed back from the end of this year to avoid the holidays, he said.
The town is also planning to widen West Lambert to four lanes between First and Rancho Sonora Drive, put in multi-use lanes on both sides of Lambert, and construct a median, curbs, gutters and other improvements. That project, estimated to cost $7.2 million, is expected to begin in 2005 or 2006.
* Contact reporter Megan Rutherford at meganr@azstarnet.com or 434-4073.
Copyright © 2003 Dan Swango and Associates