After putting up with more than a year of construction that turned an already slow-moving road into a daily traffic jam, residents and businesses with ties to West Valencia Road are finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Traffic flow is tremendously better," said Mike Taylor, a resident of the Midvale Park neighborhood, on the north side of Valencia. "You could see it as soon as they took down the traffic barriers and opened up the new lanes."
Pima County recently completed a yearlong widening project on Valencia from Interstate 19 to South Mission Road, expanding that stretch from four to six lanes.
The project, which was funded with 1997 bond election money and cost $8.52 million, began in September 2006 and was officially dedicated on Nov. 8.
The third lane in both directions actually was opened in late September, said Louis Gonzales, Pima County transportation spokesman.
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The project also added traffic signals along Valencia at South Headley Road and at South Oak Tree Drive. It also reconfigured a light at Valencia and South Midvale Park Road, adding a left-turn signal.
Joe Miller, president of the Midvale Park Neighborhood Association, said the intersection of Valencia and Midvale Park used to be backed up continually because residents leaving the 3,200-home neighborhood to get onto Valencia were all doing so at that intersection, but they were unable to make smooth left turns.
"The intersection was just atrocious," Miller said.
Gonzales said the two new traffic lights were necessary because people leaving Midvale Park needed a safer route out of the neighborhood.
"To cross four lanes of road to get across Valencia was difficult enough; with six lanes, it would have been impossible," Gonzales said.
While the widened and improved road has freed up access into and out of area neighborhoods, it also has boosted local business activity along Valencia.
More than a dozen new businesses are either under construction or planned for parts of Valencia. They include a new Jim Click Automotive location on the southwest corner of Valencia and Headley.
Ten shops are going in at Midvale Plaza, next to the Wal-Mart on the northeast corner of Valencia and Oak Tree. They include Brake Max, Subway, Alltel and Wingstop.
"It meant a lot to the businesses coming in," Miller said about the improved road. "If they didn't have the widening, they wouldn't be coming in."
Also, existing businesses are seeing increased traffic.
Margo Cardenas, loss-prevention manager for the Lowe's home improvement store at 1800 W. Valencia Road, said that during the construction, her store and other area businesses suffered because people tried to avoid the added congestion.
"We weren't getting any customers, hardly," Cardenas said. "They didn't want to come out this way. Now that it's open, people can move much easier along the road. Now that it's open, everyone is just really happy. It turned out great."
Customers shopping along Valencia seem pleased as well.
"It's a lot smoother ride now," said Shannon Escalante, a Midvale Park resident who was picking up supplies last week at Wal-Mart. "During construction, it was a pain."
Angelito Cruz, who said he shops along Valencia at least twice a week, is happy with how the road now looks, though he's anticipating the completion of a second widening project farther to the west.
That project, which involves widening from two to five lanes a two-mile stretch of Valencia from South Camino de la Tierra to South Mark Road, began in March and is expected to be complete by summer.
"It's not going to be as convenient until all of the construction is done," Cruz said. "But it's very nice right now."
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