TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Matt Mullen has lived in Tucson for over 20 years and his family drives on Houghton Road every day.
“This is one of the areas that I have a lot of concern with in regards to safety of my kids using these roadways,” says Mullen.
The area he refers to is the stretch of Houghton between 22nd Street and Irvington Road that comes down to one lane.
And since south and north of that stretch is three lanes, this leads to a lot of traffic congestion.
When Mullen's 16-year-old daughter was recently in a car crash, he blamed it partially on the roadway.
“She was rear ended here on this street…it was one of the peak traffic times of the day, and unfortunately, the driver behind her didn't see what was going on, and he wasn't able to stop in time," says Mullen, "Again, with no additional lanes like you see north and south of this area, he didn't have a safety margin to be able to take care of or swerve around the exit himself either, and ended up driving right in the back of her car.”
Sam Credio is the director of Tucson's Department of Transportation and Mobility.
He says the reason behind the delay in construction cuts deeper.
“We're doing more than just widening the road and slapping some pavement on the dirt. We are taking the opportunity to upgrade the water infrastructure," says Credio, "The sewer infrastructure, which is owned and operated by Pima County, and then the private utilities, which includes Tucson Electric Power, Southwest Gas, CenturyLink."
The Houghton project was originally part of the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), that was approved by voters in 2006.
And the current RTA expires in 2026, but Credio says, the project will be completed, no matter what.
The parts of the road that have been improved are:
- Houghton Road over the Union Pacific Rail Road Bridge, expected to be completed by the end of 2018
- Houghton Road, I-10 to the Union Pacific Railroad Bridge, set for completion in Nov. 2019.
- Houghton Road, Valencia Road to Mary Ann Cleveland Way, completed in May of 2022
----
STAY IN TOUCH WITH US ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
