Thread: Feds focus on Tucson's traffic problems = NAU?

Sandy Rathbun Reports
The Feds focus on Tucson traffic problems

April 26, 2007 09:32 PM EDT

The Feds focus on Tucson traffic problems


U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters is in Tucson, looking at what we're doing to solve traffic congestion.

Her first stop was a railroad crossing north of downtown. She'd just arrived there when two trains barreled through and stopped traffic.

Peters is visiting cities around the country to learn how they're relieving traffic congestion.

Peters told reporters, "I assure you all the wisdom in this nation does not reside inside the beltway in Washington DC."

Local transportation officials told peters 60 trains a day come through Tucson. So downtown and along Interstate 10 there are plans to move trains and traffic to two different levels.

Tucson Transportation Director Jim Glock says, "There's interest in the federal government in seeing if they can provide funding to help grade separate some of those crossings."

Tucson leaders also showed peters plans to use modern street cars to move people from the University of Arizona to downtown and Rio Nuevo.

Afterward, Peters said, "I actually think Tucson is doing a very good job because one of the things that the mayor and I've talked about is the city and the region have paid a lot of attention to what they want the city to be like."

Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup said, "She's just I think expressed that Tucson has got their act together."

And Tucson hopes that'll bring more federal money to our region to help build better mobility.

Both Peters and President Bush have made relieving traffic congestion a priority. This summer about $1.2 billion dollars will be available to communities with worthy projects.

Today, Tucson applied for about $14 million of the money for three projects.

The first would make a message system to get traffic information to the media more quickly so we can get it to you right away.

Another proposal would expand the use of "smart" traffic signals that use sensors to keep traffic moving more efficiently.

Other money would expand the "ER-Link" program which puts cameras inside ambulances so trauma doctors can see patients before they get to the hospital.

Mary Peters will be in Tucson tomorrow for a meeting with top transportation officials from Mexico and Canada. They hope to eventually create a transportation corridor through the three countries.
http://www.kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=6433886

Deporting 30 million illegal aliens would sure relieve traffic to say nothing of the Short yellow school bus traffic