From The Editor
Next spring, work is to begin on a new 4th Avenue underpass. The new underpass will provide vehicle and trolley access, while the historic tunnel will accommodate pedestrians and bicycles. Along with providing much improved linkage between the 4th Avenue/UA area and the core of downtown, this project also offers an opportunity to address a longtime downtown liability. The unsightly Greyhound station at the east end of Congress Street has served as a grim gateway to Downtown Tucson for motorists entering from the east. While Greyhound provides a valuable service in offering affordable inter-city transportation with a view, the terminal itself has been a magnet for unsavory activities. The terminal building must be demolished to make way for the new underpass, and so now we have an opportunity to find a new home for Greyhound that doesn't undermine downtown revitalization efforts.
The inevitability of the relocation has been well-known for some time. The intermodal center master plan, adopted a few years ago, identified the northeast corner of Toole and 6th Avenue as a logical location for Greyhound, the theory being that a federally-funded intermodal center requires multiple on-site modes of transportation. Greyhound would thus be near Sun Tran's downtown transit center and the Amtrak station at the depot.
Many stakeholders of Downtown Tucson, including the Tucson Downtown Alliance's Executive Committee, are concerned about the location that was approved in the intermodal center plan. It is not a knock on the logic of having multiple modes of transportation in coordination with one another, and it doesn't stem from a reluctance to support public transit. The concern is about the bigger picture of a downtown of very limited size having enough land for redevelopment. Is there enough land to build the commercial and residential facilities required to generate a critical mass of activity to make the Congress Street District a substantial urban arts and entertainment destination? Considering how small our downtown is already, would we leave enough real estate to construct new housing and mixed-use retail and entertainment attractions if we commit the area along the east side of 6th from the tracks to Congress to Greyhound and Sun Tran? The Ronstadt Center already eats up a substantial chunk of pavement that could be developed more creatively. Regular readers of the Downtown Tucsonan will recognize our commitment to the idea that Congress Street itself can be the spine of a concentrated destination area that will be attractive to Tucsonans and visitors to our city. We can ill afford to have scarce land tied up in asphalt.
A decision must be made soon on a temporary location for Greyhound so that a facility can be outfitted or constructed in time to demolish the existing terminal, so as not to further delay the construction of the 4th Avenue underpass. The Greyhound terminal and Sun Tran transit center would be logical neighbors in a new facility that would continue to serve as components of a downtown transportation hub, but not right at the emerging district's heart at 6th and Congress, where major reinvestment is poised to create Tucson's most urban environment.
