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		(Last page update: March 20, 2006)

The Major Streets and Scenic Routes plan for Pima County has designated Snyder as a Major Route crossing Sabino Creek since 1960.
     A Snyder Bridge over Sabino Creek is present in the roadway plan for Pima County and has been present in all such plans since 1960.  This plan is available on the Internet here [450Kb pdf]-- zoom in on Snyder, or examine this [50Kb] excerpt -- and you can see that Snyder Road is shown as a Scenic Major Route crossing Sabino Creek in the plan.  Historical plans also show such a crossing and can be viewed at the County offices downtown.

Snyder Road Bridge will save wildlife.
      Most of the roads on the Northeast side of metro-Tucson do not have wildlife crossings even though much of the area is preserved as natural open space due to drainage and low-density zoning requirements.  This area also borders the Coronado National Forest and Saguaro National Park.  The whole area is teeming with wildlife.  The bear that made its way to Udall Park in 2004 is just one memorable example.  Much of this wildlife crosses roads making roadkill a daily occurrence.  Every mile not driven reduces the chance of an animal being hit thereby saving wildlife.  The RTA Draft Plan already sets aside an additional $25M for wildlife crossing enhancements -- none of this is earmarked for the Northeast side.  Since Snyder Bridge eliminates an estimated six-million miles driven annually, a commensurate reduction in roadkill will take place.

Without Snyder bridge, Rural Metro Fire and Rescue is unable to meet National Fire Protection Safety Standards.
     It takes trucks from at least two Rural Metro stations to fight even a residential fire, and without a bridge, these trucks cannot reach fires on the Northeast side soon enough to be effective.  Most house fires in this area have ended as smoldering foundations.  Rural Metro Fire Chief Les Caid has met with residents in the area and confirmed the life threatening delays in emergency response times due to the lack of a bridge.  The chief confirmed this is is not just a problem for their fire and rescue crews, but also for their paramedics, which are the needed for majority of calls.  Since every minute matters in the common cases of a heart attack or stroke, people's lives are being placed at risk unnecessarily without a bridge. In addition to Chief Caid's confirmation of the critical, life saving necessity for this bridge, Rural/Metro Battalion Chief Rick Flores and Alan Williams, President of the Union representing Rural Metro Fire Fighters, have also stated the inclusion of Snyder Bridge in the RTA plan is a matter of public safety. 

The new Tucson fire station on Tanque Verde Road will NOT respond to fires or other emergencies in unincorporated Pima County.
     Since the City of Tucson does not receive tax revenues from unincorporated Pima County to support their fire department, they have instructed personnel not to respond to emergencies there.  Furthermore, Tucson Fire Department personnel resent Rural Metro's presence in this area and their vastly lower salaries paid to their fire fighters.  As a result, Tucson Fire has no desire to assist Rural Metro in any way.  In one recent example given by Rural Metro Chief Les Caid, when they called Tucson Fire for help with an out of control fire, their request was obdurately questioned resulting in a reluctant concession to dispatch help.  After a long delay, a fire marshal eventually arrived in a car rather than a truck.  The Tucson Fire Marshal briefly looked at the scene and told Rural Metro they could handle it and left.  In another example, Tucson Fire declined to assist with their nearby jaws-of-life when Rural Metro requested them to help extract a critically wounded person from an auto accident.

The RTA plan ignores Tanque Verde traffic congestion even though it is among the worst in metro Tucson. 
     Many of the intersections along Tanque Verde Road are documented as having among the worst traffic delays and accidents in metro Tucson, yet the RTA plan contains no projects for the congested segment of this road.  The only project in their plan that could have potentially helped somewhat along a small stretch of Tanque Verde is the Kolb Road connection with Sabino Canyon Road.  However, the RTA has scheduled this project as the very last and has only funded 10% of its true $87M cost.  Thus, this project is not even scheduled to start until 2025, and by that time it is very likely all RTA funds will have been spent due to their optimistic cost projections and tight budget.  Tucson City Council Woman Carol West requested the removal of this project and she effectively got what she wanted.
     When the City of Tucson studied this connection, they found it would overload the already overloaded intersection of Kolb-Speedway necessitating ugly and expensive grade separation improvements (overpasses and ramps).  Even though the RTA was aware of this and initially included the complete $87M project in their plan (watch the meeting here [360Kb]) and the report on the front page of the Star here), they arbitrarily took out the costly (and controversial) components necessary for an "acceptable level of service."  They know this is irresponsible and unacceptable, but they did it anyway, apparently to mislead the public into thinking the RTA plan contains relief for Tanque Verde Traffic problems when it does not!  (If you don't believe us, watch Jim Glock, Tucson Dept. of Transportation Director, explain to the RTA committees why $87 Million is required to implement this project acceptably under city standards here [2Mb].)

Traffic delays on Tanque Verde Road are about to get even worse.
     A new traffic light will soon be placed on Tanque Verde between the light at Pio Decimo/Dos Hombres and Sabino Canyon.  A new medical plaza is being constructed on the North side of Tanque Verde, and Tucson planners have concluded a new light will be required.  This will cause further delays along this congested segment of Tanque Verde.  Of course, ongoing population growth and infill construction will also continue to make traffic worse in this already overloaded section of our roadway system.  Many of these intersection cannot be further improved without grade separations.  The only broad solution to congestion along this corridor is to provide an alternate east-west route.  Snyder Bridge is the most cost-effective means of doing so.

If 1 and 2 pass in May, a new RTA taxing Board is created where 90% of citizens are represented by 20% of the votes!
      That's right!  Unbelievably, the RTA will create a new self governing bureaucracy to impose taxation without representation!  Ninety percent of Pima County residents live within the City of Tucson or unincorporated County, yet these two entities only have 2 representatives out of 10 on the RTA Board!  This renegade Board will have the power to spend our 2 Billion tax dollars as they choose.  The only meaningful legal restriction imposed on this board is the distribution of funds among the major transportation categories cannot change by more than 10% (about $200 Million)!
      This situation is so outrageous RTA supporters felt compelled to try to do damage control under the banner "Accountability is job one!" (check out their bureaucratic double-talk for yourself), and have been calling critics names like "Cave People."  They also try to assuage voter fears by claiming a citizen oversight committee will be created to make sure your money gets spent properly, but the fact is the RTA Board holds all legal authority, and any such committees are created by, and serve at the pleasure of, the Board.  The Board will be entrusted with the fiduciary responsibility for our tax money, but they do not proportionately represent the citizens paying the taxes!  Our ancestors fought and and won a Revolutionary War to stop taxation without representation.  Let's not vote it back in.  No wonder RTA supporters are trying to candy coat their scheme as a box of chocolates to get us to swallow it.