Recommendations link individual trails and trail segments
The Town of Oro Valley is unveiling it 2020 Parks and Recreation draft master plan in a study session before town council this Wednesday. The study is the result of a year long effort at the direction of the Oro Valley Town Council. Last week, LOVE summarized the draft master plan facilities conceptual plans. Today, we discuss the “Connectivity Analysis” of the town’s natural and multi-use paved trail system ("Trail System").
The town’s trail system is the highest parks and recreation priority
..as identified by Pros Consulting, the firm the town retained to create the master plan. They based their conclusion on community input that includes a random phone survey, community zoom meetings, and written public comment.
There are fifteen recommendations
Pros has identified missing path trail segments; and opportunities to expand the existing trail system. These are shown as “A through O” on the panel at right. We’re highlighting five. You can read about the others and review the draft master plan here.
Five recommendations make a huge difference
Extend the CDO shared use path into Rancho Vistoso (Item D)
This has to be a relatively inexpensive yet very important step. There is about a half mile of paved path that connects the CDO Linear Park Shared Use Trail to Big Wash. The trail runs on the east side of the wash. The paved portion runs west of the Oro Valley Hospital. The pavement ends a bit north of the hospital.
Five recommendations make a huge difference
Extend the CDO shared use path into Rancho Vistoso (Item D)
This has to be a relatively inexpensive yet very important step. There is about a half mile of paved path that connects the CDO Linear Park Shared Use Trail to Big Wash. The trail runs on the east side of the wash. The paved portion runs west of the Oro Valley Hospital. The pavement ends a bit north of the hospital.
There is about a half mile of unpaved path along the wash that extends from that. It connects to Rancho Vistoso Blvd, west of Vistoso Commerce Loop.
When this small section is paved, Rancho Vistoso residents will be able to ride a bike to or walk to the Oro Valley Marketplace, Catalina State Park, Steam Pump Ranch, and the Rooney Ranch Shopping Center. If they are really ambitious, they can go all the way to the Tucson Mall and to the east side of Tucson if they want. They will be able to do this without ever being on a road way.
The estimated cost of completing this trail is $750,000. This will be funded by Pima County.
Pedestrian bridge across the CDO wash (Item J)
This bridge will connect Riverfront Park to the CDO Linear Park Shared Use Trail.
Currently, the only way to get from the shared use trail to Riverfront Park is to walk or ride along Lambert Lane and on a section of Oracle Road.
Currently, the only way to get from the shared use trail to Riverfront Park is to walk or ride along Lambert Lane and on a section of Oracle Road.
The plan is for a path from the south side of the park to a bridge that crosses the CDO. If you were to walk this now, you would have to walk through the wash, which is not a simple task; and then scale a 10 foot wall to get to the path. Obviously, few had done this. The bridge opens easy access for those who want to park at Riverfront and walk or ride the CDO Linear Park Shared Use Trial. The estimated cost of this bridge is $1 million. However, funds may be available from the county to pay for it.
New shared use path connecting Kreigh Park to the Linda Vista Trailhead (Item L)
The best and really only way to safely access the Linda Vista Trailhead is by car. Otherwise you encounter the perils of walking or riding along Oracle Road. Sucking exhaust from cars on Oracle Road is not a fun thing! This new path would remove the problem providing easy access for all. The estimated cost of this is $300,000.
New shared use path connecting CDO Linear Park Shared Use Trail to Kreigh Park (Item K)
This path would use existing roadways to connect the CDO Linear Park Shared Use Trail to Kreigh Park. It would access the path on the bridge next to the Oro Valley Country Club, connecting to existing roadways that lead to the park. These are quiet residential roads. The estimated cost is $1 million.
Convert the sidewalk on one side of Rancho Vistoso Blvd to a shared use path (Item A)
Currently, there are narrow sidewalks on either side of Rancho Vistoso Blvd. This item would widen one of these to be a path that would provide safe connection to Honey Bee Canyon Park, Honey Bee Preserve and schools. It will also link to the former Vistoso Golf Course. The estimated cost is $1.8 million.
New shared use path connecting Kreigh Park to the Linda Vista Trailhead (Item L)
The best and really only way to safely access the Linda Vista Trailhead is by car. Otherwise you encounter the perils of walking or riding along Oracle Road. Sucking exhaust from cars on Oracle Road is not a fun thing! This new path would remove the problem providing easy access for all. The estimated cost of this is $300,000.
New shared use path connecting CDO Linear Park Shared Use Trail to Kreigh Park (Item K)
This path would use existing roadways to connect the CDO Linear Park Shared Use Trail to Kreigh Park. It would access the path on the bridge next to the Oro Valley Country Club, connecting to existing roadways that lead to the park. These are quiet residential roads. The estimated cost is $1 million.
Convert the sidewalk on one side of Rancho Vistoso Blvd to a shared use path (Item A)
Currently, there are narrow sidewalks on either side of Rancho Vistoso Blvd. This item would widen one of these to be a path that would provide safe connection to Honey Bee Canyon Park, Honey Bee Preserve and schools. It will also link to the former Vistoso Golf Course. The estimated cost is $1.8 million.
Total Cost: $10 million
The total cost of the 15 items is approximately $10 million. Some of the funds for this would come from the county or grants.
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