Construction to widen East Tanque Verde Road is scheduled to begin in about a month and a half.
The Pima County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a $7 million contract Tuesday to Tucson-based Southern Arizona Paving and Construction Co. to widen East Tanque Verde Road from North Catalina Highway to North Houghton Road.
The project will expand the road to four lanes with bike lanes and sidewalks. The price is well below the nearly $13 million estimated budget, following the pattern of other road-construction projects recently bid for less than expected.
The voter-approved half-cent sales tax for the Regional Transportation Plan will cover nearly 70 percent of the cost, while some of the county's share of state transportation taxes will fill in the rest.
Before the project was bid, residents near the roadway were concerned about the public art planned with the road improvements, particularly the height of a piece of statuary and its potential to affect neighbors' views of the nearby mountain ranges.
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In response to the complaints, the Transportation Department is considering moving the art to a different location in the project, said Priscilla Cornelio, the Pima County's transportation director.
In other business, the board unanimously approved liquor licenses for three Walgreens stores.
The company is seeking 30 new liquor licenses in metro-area stores that don't already sell alcohol. Of those, 25 are in the city of Tucson; one request is in Oro Valley; and four are in Pima County.
The three approved Tuesday are at 7114 N. Oracle Road, near Ina Road and Oracle; 2150 W. Orange Grove Road, near Orange Grove and North La Cholla Boulevard; and 2929 W. Valencia Road, near South Cardinal Avenue.
Many Walgreens liquor license applications in city limits have drawn opposition from nearby neighborhoods. Two of the three applications approved Tuesday are in Supervisor Ann Day's north-side district, but her office received no comments from nearby property owners.
The final say is up to the state Department of Liquor Licenses and Control.
Walgreens said most stores sold alcohol in the 1990s, and nationwide the drugstore chain hopes adding alcohol will bring in more traffic and increase sales.
The supervisors also unanimously approved a rezoning near the Vail area, which allows a developer to build 688 single-family homes.
The site is on 158 acres on the south side of the Union Pacific Rail Road tracks, across from Cienega High School, in the unincorporated Vail area. It lies between South Freeman Road and South Colossal Cave Road, wedged between Tucson city limits and the railroad tracks.
Contact reporter Andrea Kelly at 807-7790 or akelly@azstarnet.com
