Nearly two decades ago, Pima County voters approved a half cent sales tax to fund regional transportation projects. That tax has led to investments of more than $1.6 billion in the region according to public officials, but will expire on June 30, 2026. Now, residents have another chance to decide whether they’d like to continue collecting the half cent sales tax and, if so, how they’d like the next round of transportation-related funding to be used. Voters will need to approve both for either to go into effect. The Regional Transportation Authority, the taxing body that oversees the funds collected by the tax, is in the midst of a series of public meetings to get feedback on a draft plan the agency put forward with the help of a citizens advisory committee. Based on that feedback, the RTA board will review the plan, and then bring it to voters, who will get the chance to vote for or against extending the half cent sales tax for another 20 years, and approving a list of projects for those dollars. A tentative election date is set for November 2025, according to the RTA Next website. The money collected through RTA funds is unique in that it can only be spent on voter-approved projects, unlike other infrastructure funds that are disbursed based in part on political priorities that can shift between state or federal administrations. Developing the priority list for projects is a multi-step process. The RTA board, which includes representatives from cities and towns across the Pima region, formed a citizens advisory committee to develop the essential goals of the plan with input from a regional survey. Then the RTA board set a draft budget based on the estimated tax revenues and approved a plan for public input. Those conversations were contentious at times, with representatives of Oro Valley and Marana voting against the proposal in part because of the funding that would go toward Tucson-specific projects. Now, RTA Next is taking public input to the proposed projects through public meetings and an online survey, and then will review and incorporate those into an updated plan.

The proposed projects for roadway work, which includes road widening as well as bicycle lanes, pedestrian and drainage improvements are $1.4 billion, or 58% of the total funding; safety, accessibility and public transport, which also includes bicycle and pedestrian projects, are $816 million, or 33%; and wildlife linkages are $25 million or 1%. The total proposed funding also includes administrative costs, debt reserves and deferred projects from the first round of funding. If the plan is approved, it is expected to provide approximately $30 million in new funding annually that will support evening and weekend transit services. About 50% of transit funding in the Pima County region comes through the RTA funding and pooled funding from the Pima Association of Governments, according to a spokesperson from the Pima Association of Governments. The Pima Association of Governments has also hired Tucson-based marketing firm, The Gordley Group, to help with outreach efforts that include open houses and pop-up events around the region; promoting the survey through Spanish-language media outlets; and bilingual posters on Sun Tran buses. To help voters understand the proposed projects, Arizona Luminaria spoke to three Pima County residents on how they’d like to see the tax dollars spent over the next two decades:

The supercommuter 

For the past four decades, Seri Boettcher has driven the same range of freeways and interchanges. For much of that time, she commuted from her home in unincorporated Pima County near Marana, to the Raytheon campus by the airport. Now, as she drives to church or errands, she still has roads she avoids: Cortaro Farms and Thornydale roads, both proposed for upgrades under the next RTA project proposal. “That interchange is just a disaster,” said Boettcher. “I can guarantee you, if there’s a Walmart that’s on this side or a Walmart on that side, I’m going to this Walmart because I’m not going to deal with that intersection.” Boettcher sees roadwork funding as a key part of development for the region. And for the past two decades, she hasn’t noticed the half cent sales tax, she said, but has noticed when a widening road eased congestion, such as the expansion of the road near Cortaro Farms and Magee roads. “I basically live right there. That was very important to me. I was thrilled with that,” she said. The 30 different roadway projects proposed in the RTA Next plan make up the largest share of the proposed funding use. They would widen, repave or extend a range of roadways in the region.

The public transit champion 

Growing up in Tucson, the lack of public transit was always an issue for Jorge Barrios. When he got in trouble, he wasn’t allowed to use the family car. When he wanted to go on a date, his mom would sometimes have to drive him. Then he moved to Japan. After three years in Osaka, he knew what he wanted to see for the future of his hometown: more public transportation. “Very much a day and night situation, it’s the complete opposite from here,” he said of Japan’s public transit. “It opened my eyes to a variety of transportation.” Barrios is not alone in wanting a plan that does more to shift the region’s transit future to public transportation. Public advocates say they are disappointed about the roadway-heavy proposal. Emily Yetman, executive director of Living Streets Alliance, said the plan grossly underfunds public transit, and doesn’t give enough to protected bike lanes and sidewalks that could make roads safer. Sun Tran in particular extends beyond city of Tucson limits that serve rural and suburban communities, she said, and she believes it deserves future regional investment. “Giving people a real option to leave their car at home by providing really high quality public transit negates the need to keep expanding our roadways,” she said. “If we can’t already maintain the roads that we have, how on earth are we going to pay for bigger and wider roadways?” An op-ed in the Arizona Daily Star by former city council candidate Miranda Schubert, who helped form the Transit for All Coalition, calls the plan out of step with what Tucsonans want. “I cannot support the current RTA Next plan because it’s inequitable, does not address our regional needs, and ignores our climate crisis. It would continue to subsidize suburban sprawl at the expense of the key services and infrastructure that can make our region more resilient and economically competitive in the decades to come,” Schubert wrote. Allen Benz, a longtime transit advocate and self-described “all-around gadfly,” has lived in Tucson without a car since 2007. He uses the bus regularly, and wants to see more public transit to reduce pollution and wear-and-tear on city streets. His proposal is not to take roadway projects off the table, but reduce funding of those projects by about 8% across the board and shift that money to public transit. And he wants anyone in Tucson who cares about transportation to fill in the survey. “The RTA is coming and we should have a voice in it,” he said. Public transit-oriented proposals include $45 million for pedestrian improvements and $45 million in bikeway improvements in Tucson. Roadway projects funded under a different section also include the creation of bike lanes and pedestrian improvements, according to the plan.

The desert wildlife advocate

There are road crossings, bridges and by-ways for bikers and pedestrians in Pima County, and there are roadways for bighorn sheep, mountain lions, mule deer, badgers, foxes and skunks as well. Called wildlife linkages, they are a key infrastructure investment that keeps animals from running in front of cars to cross between parks and other habitats split by roadways. Jessica Moreno is the conservation science director at the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, and she cares deeply about funding for wildlife linkages in the plan. “We want the wildlife around us to thrive, and we’re growing so rapidly that we have to do it smart by protecting the things we value,” she said. “Wildlife considerations should always be part of new roadway projects to mitigate the damage they cause to our environment. If we don’t choose action, we are choosing to lose our wildlife and desert ecosystems.” Moreno said she will vote for the plan and sales tax, but was disappointed to see that only $25 million was proposed for wildlife linkages. Documents show the Citizens Advisory Committee, created to provide public input on how RTA dollars were spent, had approved a plan that would include $50 million for wildlife linkages in a budget shared this spring. “It felt very disingenuous after so long of a process leading up to it,” she said. Kathryn Skinner, director of the Pima County Department of Transportation, told Arizona Luminaria at a December open house that while roadway projects could include features to mitigate the impact on wildlife, Pima County residents concerned with the impact on wildlife should make their voices heard in the survey. “This is a draft plan, there is room for comments,” she said. To help raise concerns about the need for more funding for wildlife linkages in the plan, the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection will hold a public meeting on the plan in January: What: Public Forum: Wildlife Crossings and the RTA Next Draft Budget When: Monday Jan. 6, 9-10 a.m., doors open at 8:30 a.m. Where: Historic Y Conference Room, 738 N. 5th Ave.

Read the full list of project proposals under RTA Next here:

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