Best Roadway Landscaping--TIE
Mountain Avenue
READERS' PICK: Yeah, we all think that stretch of the Mountain Avenue bike path between Speedway and Grant Road is really neat, what with those wide sidewalks, big boulders, maturing mesquites and shrubbery, brick shoulders and sodium streetlamps every 20 feet. And the urban park just south of Helen Street is aces. But forgive us for skimming over the familiar details to get on to the new stuff: the reconstruction of the Miracle Mile interchange between Prince and Ina roads. Contrary to popular belief, this is not a publicly funded art project per se. Unlike Pima County, the State of Arizona (and therefore the Department of Transportation) does not have a percentage for public art built into their new construction budgets. Rather, the zippiest highway reconstruction in Tucson owes its existence to the foresight of landscape architects Wheat Gallaher Associates, who, of their own volition, invited artist (and The Mollys' drummer) Gary Mackender to be part of the design team. In that sense, it's sort of ironic that the hardscape has earned the "roadway landscaping" title before the landscape has even been put in place. The six tile murals and decorative corten-steel pedestrian fence mark not only Mackender's first public art project, but also his first foray into working with ceramics and metal. The murals are actually preformed red tiles with the designs transferred over from full-sized paper drawings cut down into sections. Each of the 18,000 tiles was then hand-glazed and fired by Artistic Tile Co. The regional Southwestern motif borrows petroglyphs from the Picacho region, some colonial references and images of cityscapes combined with historical structures. The cooler blues and violets in the three northwest-facing murals (coming into town) provide a soothing welcome for weary travelers, while the three outbound ones speed commuters along with warm reds, oranges and yellows, all in colorful contrast to a backdrop of cast concrete painted Navajo tan. But our favorite touch in the pueblo deco design is the abstract sun pattern on the pedestrian fence overhead, acid washed with a light patina finish.The project has been so well received, ADOT has changed the design of the remaining improvements to allow for the possibility of more commissioned works in the future. Stay tuned for more funding....
Miracle Mile InterchangeREADERS' POLL RUNNER-UP AND STAFF PICK: Alas, Speedway is no longer the ugliest boulevard in America. With a long-awaited new look spanning Park Avenue to Alvernon Way, not only is the famous cruise strip racing toward a higher aesthetic, but the street is safer for vehicles and flat-footers alike. The fake rocks around the University of Arizona leave a flavor worse than exhaust fuel in one's mouth, but the overall landscape design and mosaic murals near Reay's Ranch Market make up for that lapse in taste. Artist Linda Haworth worked with 11 local youths under the auspices of the City of Tucson Transportation Department, the Arizona Commission on the Arts, Tucson Youth Development, Inc., and the Tucson/Pima Arts Council. The most gratifying aspects of the Speedway reconstruction are the safety improvements and accessibility features. From the pedestrian underpasses around the UA to the re-leveling of the surface between Dodge Boulevard and Alvernon Way, the years of inconvenience for store owners and taxpayers culminate in time and money well spent.
