RTA Next plan would spend more than $1.5B on Pima County roads

If approved by voters next year, the RTA Next plan would spend more than $1.5 billion on roads in the Tucson metro area.

The Regional Transportation Authority Board – made up of representatives of local and state governments – has worked out a final draft of the proposed improvements.

“They occur throughout the region,” said Southern Arizona Leadership Council President and CEO Ted Maxwell, who serves on the RTA Board as a representative of the State Transportation Board. “They are spread out. Pima County has seven projects in there. Marana’s got four. Sahaurita’s got two. The Pascua Yaqui have one.”

En español: Plan de RTA Next gastaría más de $1.5B en las calles de Pima County

At its upcoming Aug. 25 meeting, the RTA Board is set to vote to ask the Pima County Board of Supervisors to place the RTA Next plan on the March 2026 ballot.

There’s $1.1 billion for 30 new road projects in the plan. In addition, local cities and towns would get $177 million for rebuilding arterial roads, while another $262.6 million would be spent completing projects from the first 20-year RTA, which was approved by voters in 2006.

Here’s a sample of the 30 new road projects:

• Widening Colossal Cave Road between I-10 and Camino Loma Alta to four lanes and installing a grade-separated interchange with the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. Cost: $173 million.
• Widening Thornydale Road between Cortaro Road and Tangerine Road to four lanes. Cost: $97 million.
• Widening Mary Ann Cleveland Way between Houghton Road and Colossal Cave Road to four lanes. Cost: $87 million.
• Modernizing Prince Road between Romero Road and Country Club Road. Cost: $77 million.
• Modernizing Drexel Road between South 12th Avenue and Country Club Road. Cost: $71 million.
• Modernizing Irvington Road between 15th Avenue and Tucson Boulevard. Cost: $56 million.
• Widening Lambert Lane between Thornydale Road and Rancho Sonora Drive to four lanes. Cost: $55 million.
• Widening Valencia Road between Mission Road and Camino de Oeste to a six-lane divided highway. Cost: $49.5 million.
• Widening Pima Mine Road from I-19 to Nogales Highway to four lanes. Cost: $43 million.
• Modernizing Campbell Avenue between Benson Highway to Valencia Road. Cost: $35 million.
• Improving La Villita Road between Sahuarita Road and Nogales Highway. Cost: $34 million.
• Building a new traffic interchange at Moore Road and I-10. Cost: $30 million.

Find a complete list of projects here.