Rio Nuevo pt. 2
Bill asked
Why is it taking so long and costing so much?
In my opinion there are several reasons. One - there are many people and organizations involved and getting approval for projects takes time. The city council meets and discusses the project on a regular basis but when you are dealing with multiple people, groups and government agencies things take time. The second reason is that it appears firm deadlines are not always set making it difficult to hold responsible parties accountable.
One of the things they have run into on the west side of the project is archeological finds that need to be documented and in some cases, such as the cemetaries, preserved. That seems to be par for the course when you are talking about an area with extensive history such as ours.
The council recently met on July 12 to discuss the project. You can find the meeting notes in their entirety HERE. Some progress is being made on the Tucson Origins park on the west side. Additionally a partnership has been formed to entice more private entities to become involved with the project. They are hoping that by getting private entities involved funding can increase and help move the projects along at a faster pace.
One of the big problems facing the project is the lack of parking downtown and the traffic concerns. Anyone that has driven downtown can attest to the fact that the streets are crowded and parking is scarce. That is definately a huge problem that the Rio Nuevo project leaders need to address - and it is one of the most challenging.
There are good plans in place and if it comes together as planned the Rio Nuevo development could bring great things to downtown Tucson. It will be interesting to see if the leaders can pull off what they have planned.
The next meeting of the subcommittee will be on August 16 at 5 pm in the Ward 6 Council office located at 3202 East 1st Street. For more information on the city council meetings you can find their agenda and meeting notes by going to Subcommittee Meeting Notes and Schedule.
October 22nd, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Can anybody remember when the times were not hard and money not scarce?
February 11th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
I am having issues viewing this blog. It displays all funny with paragraph breaks incorrectly. You might need to check it out.