2008 Traffic Enhancement Grant Application

City of Tucson Completed Design Plans

UPDATE FEB., 2017 - The Pima Pedestrian Path was built in the late Fall of 2016.  In January, 2017, after winter rains, it was determined the water harvesting basins were collecting too much street water and not draining quickly enough.  The City of Tucson modified the basins and remediated the problem.   A landscaping contractor maintained the medians and plants until 2019.  Then Garden District Neighborhood became responsible for maintenance -- weeding and replacing plants that die.  If you would like to volunteer and help with maintenance, please contact the neighborhood.
 THANKS TO THE BUSINESS THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE PIMA PEDESTRIAN PATH CELEBRATION IN PERSON OR THROUGH DONATIONS 

Tucson Water                                                                  Bailey's Lemonade Stand
Sonoran Environmental Research Institute            Net Zero Solar
SmartScape                                                                      Centric Photo
Yoga Connection                                                            La Mesa Tortillas
Uncle Bob's Popcorn                                                     Tucson Botanical Gardens
Fry's at Grant and Alvernon                                         Circle K
Ila's Girl Scout Troop                                                    Watershed Management Group
Hope for Finances                                                         Living Streets Alliance
 Chase Ostermeyer, Realtor of Team Presidio      Sharon Otstot and Jay Harman Oboe Ceramics
Tucson Touch Therapies                                              Moss Worthington, steel drum musician
Iora Primary Care

History of Pima Pedestrian Path:                

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The Spring of 2017, the Pima Pedestrian Path was completed.  It was a long, long process to bring the path to reality.

In 2007, the Garden District Neighborhood Association  received  a ProNeighborhoods Planning and Design Service Award for the pro bono services of a professional team to design a linear park on the northside of Pima between Columbus and Alvernon. The professional team, composed of four engineers, a landscaper, a hydrologist, and a planner, worked with neighborhood residents to develop a design for a pedestrian path.

In 2008, GDNA then applied for and received a Traffic Enhancement Grant from the State of Arizona for constructing the Pima Pedestrian Path.

Pima, a collector street, is paralleled by a half mile access road between Columbus and Alvernon. This contiguous access road is a major pedestrian route to numerous amenities and businesses in this densely populated area.   There are no sidewalks, no physical barriers -- nothing to protect pedestrians from 35 mph traffic.  The Pima Pedestrian Pathway (PPP) will improve the safety and connectivity of this busy pedestrian route and regional bicycle corridor.  It will create curbed medians, enhanced ADA bus shelters, and protected pedestrian pathways behind landscaped barriers.

The PPP has two variations depending on the (1) placement of buildings relative to Pima, (2) the vehicle access needs of residents, and (3) emergency and service vehicle needs.   

The Pathway will:
    * Offer safer routes for children attending neighboring schools, e.g. Wright Elementary, St. Cyril’s, Doolen, and Catalina High.
    * Increase accessibility and safety for pedestrians and bus riders from not only surrounding neighborhoods, but also for those who travel  
       through  Garden District.
    * Enhance the aesthetic appearance of a major commuting route.
    * Create an attractive landscaped buffer to help shelter residents from noise, traffic, casual crime, and trash.
    * Provide safer bike lanes since traffic can no longer cut across painted bike lanes to access homes or pass illegally.
    * Encourage motorists to slow down and drive the speed limit since studies show when roadways have defined edges and plantings, traffic
       slows.