Tucson Standard

The City of Tucson has begun work to rebuild the 22nd Street Bridge thanks to a $25 million federal grant that makes possible relief for many area drivers, officials say.

"This construction project impacts a large amount of people,” Erica Frazelle, public information officer with the City of Tucson Department of Transportation and Mobility, said in a story by KGUN 9. “You may be on the far west side, or on the east side, and you're still traveling this area.”

The bridge needs work because it can’t handle heavy vehicle traffic, forcing many drivers to take alternate routes. That will change when the project is finished, however.

"At project completion, this bridge will no longer be weight restricted,” Frazelle said. “That means school buses and heavy trucks will now be able to use this east-west corridor.”

In addition to strengthening the structure of the bridge, the project will provide bike and pedestrian lanes. A sign in front of the bridge alerts drivers that the work is beginning. However, construction is not expected to intensify until early 2023 and completion will require up to three years, the article said.

"It's three years, you know. It's going to be hard, especially for the customers," Jorge Glaez, owner of JC Auto Repair on Cherry Avenue, said in the KGUN 9 article.

In the long-term, however, business owners like Glaez understand that the benefits of restructuring the bridge will more than make up for the temporary hardship once traffic is able to flow freely across the bridge.

"It's going to be very good for business, because it will promote more travel and traffic through," Glaez said.

Frazelle anticipates the project will greatly benefit many residents in Tucson.

"In the end it will be a great project to increase safety, capacity as well as freight access in this area," she said.