Inside Tucson Business Writes About Oro Valley's Stimulus Requests

It's not "new news," but for those readers that may have missed our earlier posts, you can read the Feb. 23 AzBiz.com article that includes a cartoon (below) showing Oro Valley as "the piggy bank breaker" with its $567.9 stimulus request from the federal government ---the most of all the Pima County municipalities, including Tucson.




Read the article here.
http://www.azbiz.com/articles/2009/02/23/news/doc499ee2c3a7e01806445127.txt

What's With ADOT'S Wall On Oracle Rd. Near Catalina State Park?

A number of residents have been asking, "what's with that massive wall" on the east side of the Oracle Road Scenic Corridor near Catalina State Park.

I had a very informative conversation with the gentleman from ADOT, Steve Spear, who explained all the answers.

After two or three community meetings with the affected residents of Rams Canyon, to the immediate east, the majority of respondents opted for a noise suppression wall because of the widening of Oracle road.

An ADOT engineering study determined in order to reduce the decibels from 116db without the wall, to a more manageable 80db, required the wall to be the height that it is.

Mr. Spear indicated that when completed, the wall that starts to the south at Rams Pass will cross the CDO wash (not yet done) and continue to the Catalina State Park, and will be painted a ''desert tan" and blend in much better.

However, for anyone driving north on Oracle road, the view of The Catalina Mountains is totally obliterated.

I guess that's the price for progress!