Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller has been in the news lately for some issues with potholes, but a recent note posted on her Facebook page and a newsletter indicates she is no fan of The Loop.
Her note, which takes issue with raising the gas tax and indicates Miller’s displeasure with spending in Pima County.
Here’s the snippet from the note about The Loop:
The Loop, which is a bike system along the various river beds, is estimated at a total cost of $84 million. These trails are important for erosion control but connecting the bike routes added millions to the cost. While this is a nice addition to the community and billed as an economic driver for tourism, do we believe visitors don’t notice the roads they drive on while they are here? Riding bicycles on these roads is a hazard to the health and safety of all residents and visitors to this community.
Thoughts?
There’s a real lot of things that the county and city could not spend millions on in the name of road repair. So why does she pick on the gem of biking facilities. It promotes the health and safety of all residents. It could likely be the most talked-about feature of visitors to friends back home. Her statement connecting street conditions to cycling safety, although agreeable, is just a convenient point of debate. The sad truth is that residential streets will never be improved significantly no matter what they’re called. There will never be enough money to do it. When piles of money do appear, governments spent it on what they want rather than what communities need. She can’t be a cyclist.
I hope what she is trying to say is that our roads are so crappy that they are a danger to anyone who would like to ride their bikes on them.
She admits that the loop attracts people to Tucson, but seem to think when they get here they will see not only the awesome loop but also lots of crappy/dangerous roads.
I personally think her point is a good one and the upkeep of the infrastructure used to keep our community operating should be prioritized over a project that is used mostly for recreation. I hope that we can do both…
People are either a fan of a project, or they aren’t. I hate the streetcar but I was outvoted. I love the LOOP even tho I live 4 miles from it. It isn’t a useful transportation corridor for me, but it is a very real part of my exercise and recreation regime. Ally Miller, I think is typical of most Americans who think that anything that looks like a road, but can’t be driven on is surely a waste of money. I wish the streetcar money had all gone to the LOOP and other bike infrastructure instead. The human mind is a strange thing, buses = dirty people, streetcars = clean, nice people, and a fun amusement park ride. That’s the power of the mind.
Quoting Ally Miller: “Riding bicycles on these roads is a hazard to the health and safety of all residents and visitors to this community.”
What does she mean by this? I would hope that she means that poorly maintained roads are a hazard to cyclists, but I have a feeling that she doesn’t believe that cyclists have a right to use our roads. The Tucson Weekly had a few good articles about Supervisor Miller recently that illustrate how far out there she really is:
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2014/03/03/ally-millers-911-call-makes-farkcom
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2014/02/22/pima-county-supervisor-ally-miller-has-odd-transportation-priorities
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2014/02/21/pima-county-supervisor-ally-miller-moved-transportation-projects-to-her-own-neighborhood
Firstly, it irks me that The Loop is described as a tourist plaything when the reality is that locals do use it, even more so, not just for recreation, but for commuting.
Secondly, people often complain that cyclists don’t pay road taxes—just peruse the comments of her post. However, the fact of the matter is that most cyclists, I would imagine, do own a car (or two). And even the insignificant number of cyclists who don’t own a car (myself included), are they really that much of a burden? Is it merely a privilege to not own a car? Is it really our fault that road taxes are dependent on the fact that most people do own cars, not taking into account (or simply not bothering) that some people don’t own cars?
And since a portion of the HURF (Highway User Revenue Funds) goes towards bicycle lanes and shared-use paths (at least according to page 44 of the 2009 PAG Regional Plan for Bicycling, unless I’m interpreting it wrong), I would happily pay my share of taxes in order to sustain said funding of bicycle infrastructure, but since I don’t own a car, I am not aware of any other method of paying into HURF.
Like other riders, I do not commute on the Loop, and it’s a six mile rather rough ride from my house to the loop. The Loop is a valuable part of my exercise infrastructure. It’s a great way to view the mountains, wildlife, people watch, and connect with the urban nature that is unique to Tucson. Although I do not tend to run into anyone I know there, I see familiar faces, a like minded community that serves as inspiration and sometimes competition for my work outs.
It defies the imagination how people like Ally Miller with myopic attitudes get elected to office. Enough of us are not voting.
My thought? “I can’t vote against her again soon enough!” This woman is a paranoid big mouth liar and bad news for Pima County. Frightening that people can’t see, refuse to see, or see and don’t care about this. And the thought she could go further in AZ… *shudder*
The Loop I love, and just today rode the upgraded section up and down. When I can commute it’s nothing short of a blessing. I’ve tried River Road, and while it can be fun leaving a line a cars stuck, it’s also extremely nerve wracking. Gimme The Loop any day. Unfortunately family scheduling makes commuting a hardship. 🙁
Good lord. THIS happens and people still listen to her?
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2014/03/03/ally-millers-911-call-makes-farkcom
So lame that Tucson (or more correctly, Arizona) has folks like Miller in office.
The roads here DEFINITELY need work, but the Board of Supes are just playing schoolyard games.
http://www.arizonadailyindependent.com/2014/02/28/pima-county-road-repair-funding-disparity-questioned/
Time to clean house.
Just rode the resurfaced and widened section on the Rillito north bank between La Cholla and Campbell. Nice –congrats to County staff and the contractor. This section was first built in 1986 and in need of a face lift.