Oro Valley entered into an agreement with the Arizona Department of Transportation to design and build a two-mile, ten-foot-wide multi-use highway along the north side of Naranha Drive between La Canada and First Avenue.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $3.656 million and will require multiple steps before construction can begin. Construction on the site is expected to begin in November 2024 and be completed in the summer or early fall of 2025, according to a town report.
The path will serve cyclists, runners and walkers on long routes, as well as walkers, runners and cyclists traveling to and from Naranja Park.
On March 17, two girls walking with their dog were hit by an eastbound driver on the south side of Naranja Drive near the park. One of the girls, 13-year-old Olivia Rene Villalobos, died and the other was seriously injured. Motorist Sabrina Garcia faces two counts in Oro Valley City Court, and her first pretrial conference is scheduled for July 18. The accident prompted calls from residents for the town to immediately address the interaction of pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles along that section of Narangha Drive.
Oro Valley applied for a competitive grant to build the multi-use road on May 3, 2022, over a year ago. Funding will come through the Pima County Regional Transit Authority in the form of a $3,448,000 federal grant that will cover him 94.3 percent of the total cost. Her other RTA funding will meet that need.
Funding comes from the federal government, so ADOT must manage the project. Despite delays in selecting consultants, ADOT “committed to have everything done by the end of July” as originally planned, Town Engineer Paul Kiesler said. “The project kick-off on the design is still scheduled for the end of July,” Kiesler told the Oro Valley Town Council on June 7.
From there, a project evaluation or design concept report is followed by a request for permits to consider the environment, roadway and public works. The schedule calls for the construction tender to be announced in mid-August 2024.
In addition to the road itself, improvements within the project include extending the drainage culvert, building a headwall, and building a retaining wall along the cut and fill area, according to the town report.
