The Regional Transportation Authority may be headed into its next 20 years of road and transit improvements across Pima County if voters approve its plan in a March special election.
The current 20-year plan, approved by voters in 2006, has funded some of the region’s roadway corridors, wildlife passages and transit using an annual $125 million of taxpayer money.
At a meeting Wednesday night, RTA Next was presented in South Tucson, where the authority said it plans to raise over $2 billion by extending an expiring half-cent sales tax in Pima County. It said the funding would improve pavements, road congestion, public transportation and wildlife passages, among other infrastructure.
Some locals [criticize] the RTA for its unfinished projects, like the Downtown Links corridor that is set to connect Maclovio Barraza-Aviation Parkway to the Interstate 10 frontage road. The project had an estimated completion date in 2023, but is now expected to wrap up in the next few months.
The Grant Road Improvement Project is another that has garnered flak from the community, given its extensive timeline. Beginning in May 2024, it’s set to widen Grant Road to six lanes by the end of this year.
Jeanette DeRenne, the transportation planning director with the RTA, said roadway reconstruction has been an overwhelmingly popular priority for constituents. But South Tucson Mayor Roxana Valenzuela said the city has another main concern: public transit.
“If this tax does not pass, South Tucson is going to have to pay for our public transportation which currently is about $700,000 and I’m sure the operating costs are going to increase,” she told AZPM.
According to U.S. Census data, about 10% of South Tucson residents use public transit to get to work.
The RTA Next budget issues $17,800 toward safety and active transportation projects in South Tucson.
One South Tucson resident in the audience, who did not share her name, said she hopes people will support RTA Next because many elderly people also depend on its services.
“I’m glad you’re addressing the need for safe streets. South Tucson has an older population, so a lot of them depend on the bus or walking,” she said.
Melanie Lawson with the RTA said the plan would create 48,000 jobs and a potential $3.7 billion or more of total economic impact. From the 2006 plan, she said, 40,000 jobs were created and more than 1,000 improvements were completed.
Lawson said because the county has gone 30 years without an increase in gas taxes while the use of fuel-efficient vehicles has risen, the region is experiencing a decline in transportation resources.
In a survey of over 2,000 people conducted by the RTA from November 2024 to January 2025, 57.5% of respondents indicated they would “Very Likely” or “Likely” support the plan.
DeRenne said the RTA is committed to finishing any projects leftover from the 2006 plans, some of which will appear on the 2026 ballot with scope changes or financial revisions.
“If we don’t get that half-cent sales tax, we’re going to have to look for other funding sources to make sure that those projects get completed,” she said.
Without RTA Next, she said there would be no alternative local funds, but that the RTA would look to the state or federal level instead.
“Those funds often have strings attached to them and they’re also very limited because we’re competing with other jurisdictions within the state or the country,” DeRenne said.
She said the new plan is a result of community feedback.
“We went out to different organizations, came out to communities like South Tucson and we said, ‘Hey, what do you guys think?’ What does the community think? Is there something that we’re missing?” DeRenne said.
RTA representatives are discussing the plan at several other public meetings, including a live panel discussion on Jan. 22 at The Baker Center for Public Media.
