Road Conditions By Ramon Valadez

Across the country and throughout Arizona, communities have concerns with the condition of their roads. To deal with this worsening condition in Pima County, over the past two years, the Pima County Board of Supervisors has funded an additional $5 million from the General Fund for Pavement Preservation, becoming the only county to fund transportation from this source. These funds, however, can only be spent in unincorporated Pima County, which means that the 88% of us in District 2 who live in Tucson, South Tucson or Sahuarita won’t see funds spent in our communities.

For that reason, I have insisted that these funds be used for major arterial roads – or the roads that we are all likely to use regardless of where we live

Finding a solution to this issue is not easy. More funds are needed to address the problem and simply shifting funds or cutting budgets isn’t enough? Since the recession began, the County has cut more than 1,000 employees and $300 million from the budget, but the cost to solve the problem is much greater.

As transportation is also the responsibility of the federal and state governments we have repeatedly asked for their help. They have failed even to begin the discussion about road funding. We could not wait any longer for help and we began looking for solutions to the problem before it got even worse.

During town halls and other community discussions throughout our District, I have heard a very clear message that roads must be a priority. To address this increasing need I proposed, and the Board of Supervisors approved including $160 million in the Bond Election for pavement preservation throughout Pima County. I also insisted that the funds could be used in our cities and towns and that the payback period needed to be shorter than the life of the road improvements.

In November, as a community, it will be our decision. I encourage you to you vote!