A long-debated plan to widen East Broadway from Euclid to Country Club Road in Tucson came one step closer to reality Thursday night when public consensus was reached on the road's alignment.
Jennifer Toothaker, a project manager for the Tucson Transportation Department, said a public agreement on the boundaries of the new Broadway, called an alignment adoption, was an important step at Thursday evening's well-attended public meeting.
“ ... Having an alignment adoption is a point of certainty," Toothaker said. "That lets us continue moving forward. It’ll give us the opportunity to take any design and get the design further to the technical elements that need to be done to get it to a buildable road plan."
Expanding Broadway east of downtown has been a controversial issue since 1987, the year Tucson officials released a study based on expected population growth and increasing traffic in the area.
Broadway is one of the busiest traffic corridors in Tucson. A recommendation made last month by a citizens task force suggested increasing the road to six lanes with additional lanes for bicycles and new sidewalks.
The citizens task force will meet next week to discuss the public’s feedback on the plan, before making recommendations to the City Council.
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