Streets north of campus reopen after construction

Ryan A. Mihalyi Arizona Daily Wildcat Parking will be available once again on North Tyndall Avenue and East Second Street today after the streets were closed for a week for paving. About 50 vehicles that were illegally parked and interfered with the construction have been towed from the site.

University of Arizona students who usually take advantage of the free parking along Tyndall Avenue and Second Street have been forced to find parking elsewhere since work on the roads begin March 17

"We couldn't get in (to the Baptist Student Union) this morning," Julie Evans, a family studies senior, said yesterday.

Evans said people wanting to enter BSU were blocked by the construction, but by afternoon, access to the building was reopened.

Notice went up 10 days ago that the streets would be temporarily closed, said Tucson Police Department Officer Fabian Pacheco, who was directing traffic near the site of the roadwork yesterday.

Pacheco said the city has towed about 50 vehicles that were parked on the streets and interfered with the work.

Four vehicles were towed yesterday.

Pam Olson, office manager for Gary's Towing, said the company was asked to tow the vehicles by the city.

The towing cost is $28 plus $4 per day for storage.

Pacheco said that students should be aware of construction equipment and should watch for the temporary "no parking" signs along the streets.

The city decided to reconstruct the 50-year-old streets due to their heavy usage, said Bob Wood, project manager for the city of Tucson.

"They haven't had any appreciative maintenance in all that time," Wood said.

"We replaced the old asphalt with 2 inches of recycled asphalt," he said.

He also said the project around the UA campus is being completed by Southern Arizona Paving at a cost of around $800,000.

Wood said that both Tyndall Avenue and Second Street would reopen for parking yesterday evening.

Construction north of East Speedway Boulevard, however, will continue on Tyndall, North Fremont and South Santa Rita avenues.

"Two days should clean everything up," Wood said.

"It should be open by Wednesday."

He said the only construction left south of Speedway Boulevard will be to put a sealing coat on East University Boulevard.

"But that won't be for another month," Wood said.