An upcoming $157 million plan to widen 22nd Street in Tucson, Arizona, recently broke ground by Granite Construction through a joint venture with Traylor Bros.
The 22nd Street Widening and Bridge Replacement Project will rebuild 0.85 miles of 22nd Street from Kino Parkway to Tucson Boulevard and replace the four-lane bridge over the Barraza-Aviation Parkway and the Union Pacific Railroad with a six-lane structure.
The current bridge, due to structural issues, has a 15-ton weight restriction and, since 2005, has been closed to heavier vehicles carrying freight and buses. The 1,358-foot bridge was built in 1966 and has reached the end of its designed service life.
The 22nd Street corridor was designated a regional freight corridor in the 2018 Pima Association of Governments Regional Freight Plan.
The expansion of the 0.85-mile 22nd Street corridor from two to three lanes in each direction is expected to address a bottleneck created by the current configuration between Kino Parkway and Tucson Boulevard. The finished project will address structural deficiencies, enhance safety, boost connectivity and support regional economic growth.
Granite Construction will provide 10,250 tons of asphalt for the project from its Tucson plant.
Roadway and bridge design began in 2012 and was completed in 2019. Funding for the project comes from the City of Tucson, the Regional Transportation Authority and a $25 million federal RAISE grant.
Partners on the 22nd Street Widening Project include the Arizona Department of Transportation, Union Pacific Railroad, Regional Transportation Authority, Pima Association of Governments, and Pima County.
