Transportation shapes how a region grows. RTA Next points us in the wrong direction.
By prioritizing large road widenings on the outskirts of the region, the plan reinforces low-density sprawl; development that is expensive to serve, car-dependent, and disconnected from daily needs. That growth pattern leaves Tucson paying the long-term costs while jobs, housing, and tax base spread farther apart.
Inside the city, residents are asking for walkability, better pavement on our arterials, safer streets, better transit, and transportation options that support infill, small businesses, and mixed-use neighborhoods. Those investments help people live closer to work, reduce household transportation costs, and make better use of existing infrastructure.
RTA Next largely ignores those goals. Instead, it commits the region to a future of longer commutes, higher public costs, and fewer choices.
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Voting no on Propositions 418 and 419 allows us to align transportation spending with smarter growth, growth that strengthens Tucson rather than hollowing it out.
Melissa Mason
Northeast side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
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