Happy Holidays from My Family to Yours

City of Tucson sent this bulletin at 12/21/2022 02:47 PM MST

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December 21, 2022

Happy Holidays from My Family to Yours

As 2022 comes to an end, I want to take a moment to reflect on the wonderful improvements brought to Ward 4 this past year. In 2022, we focused on many projects, but here are highlights from a few:

Purple Heart Park Investments

We made investments in a community staple, Purple Heart Park. This much needed facelift for the park has made it more accessible and sustainable, giving all of us more opportunities to get outside and be active in the new year. This year the following improvements were made:

Planted 62 new trees creating a tree lined walking path
Built a brand-new splash pad
Installed new LED lights in the softball and multipurpose fields
Built new bathrooms for the softball and multipurpose field

Houghton Road: Irvington to Mary Ann Cleveland

For longtime residents of east Tucson and Vail, we know the challenges that population growth has brought to our infrastructure. That’s why this year we widened Houghton Road from Irvington to Mary Ann Cleveland Way. We didn’t just widen this area to six lanes, we also:

Added a desert parkway median
Added a dedicated left and right turn lanes at the Rita Road intersection
Added a new traffic signal at Rita Road
Made drainage improvements which will be so helpful during the monsoon rains
Created a bus pullout to keep traffic flowing
Added a multiuse path and sidewalk for pedestrians and bikers alike
Added roadway lighting
Increased native landscaping with water harvesting and added Stone Poneys Public Art

Public Safety

This year we also completed the design and public comment process for the new Southeast Tucson Police Annex Station at Kolb Road just south of Valencia. I’m so excited that this project will be breaking ground in the new year! Not only are we adding a new station, but we also worked with Tucson Police and Fire to increase wages, making Tucson’s wages some of the most competitive in the State. We also worked to substantially fund the police and fire academy classes, which will help us to get over 150 new highly qualified and trained police and firefighters in the City of Tucson. At the beginning of December, I participated in the grand opening of the $8 million dollar state of the art, Emergency Communications Center, serving 9 public safety agencies in the Tucson Region. Our 911 communications team is the front line of public safety, and I was proud to ensure we properly invested in their success and wellbeing.

Proposition 411

Thank you to the voters of Tucson for passing proposition 411 which will bring over $740 million over ten years to fix every residential road in the City of Tucson, with investment in pedestrian and bicycle safety infrastructure. In addition, over the next 5 years the Mayor and Council dedicated $15 million dollars annually to repair collector streets and $90 million for public safety capital improvements, new safety equipment and fleet replacement.

These are just some of the major accomplishments our team has had over the past year, and we couldn’t have done it without you! From participating in community education and comment forums, to letting my office know your thoughts on the issues, you’ve been along with us every step of the way. And we have so much more to do!

Looking ahead to next year, we have large problems to tackle that require equally bold solutions. We will need to continue to find solutions to house those who are unhoused, address aging infrastructure and housing stock in the Tucson area and bring more resources to Tucson’s east side.

With so much to do moving forward and so much having been done this past year, we will always be busy. So, take this time during this holiday season to rest, rejuvenate, and get ready to work together to make Tucson what we already know it is: the best place to live.

Happy holidays from the Ward 4 Team,

How Can I Stay Updated?

There are multiple ways to stay updated with my office and the City's work:

Looking for city updates? Follow the Ward 4 City of Tucson page to learn about core services, projects, events and helpful information about all things Tucson.
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