State Route 210 (SR 210), also known as the Barraza-Aviation Parkway, is a state highway located in Tucson, Arizona, United States, alongside the Union Pacific railroad. Most of it was opened around 1998.
Route description
Between its western terminus at Broadway Boulevard and Kino Parkway, SR 210 is a controlled-access expressway; farther east, it is a limited-access highway with at-grade intersections and traffic lights until its eastern terminus at Golf Links Road (at the western edge of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base).
SR 210 currently does not intersect any other state or national routes, but is planned to intersect Interstate 10 in the future.[1][2]
History
The initial section of SR 210 has a very long history in Tucson. Called the Barraza-Aviation Highway, all but the last few miles were completed in the 1990s. On July 8, 2008, the Mayor and Council voted 6–0 to approve Alignment 3.d., which would extend SR 210 to I-10 at the current St. Mary's Road overpass.[3][4] As of 2023, nothing to this effect ever came to fruition.
According to historian David Leighton of the Arizona Daily Star newspaper, the name "Barraza" is named for union leader Maclovio R. Barraza and the word "Aviation" derives from the Aviation Field, now called Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.[5]
Future
Maclovio Barraza Parkway/Downtown Links Project
After the passage of the Regional Transportation Authority plan in 2006, a portion of the sales tax increase paid for an extension plan of the parkway from Broadway Boulevard to 6th Street called Downtown Links. The new road, called the Maclovio Barraza Parkway, would go alongside the Union Pacific Railroad. Also, the railroad crossing on 6th Street, west of Stone Avenue, will be improved, providing a new underpass above the railroad. This will allow direct access from I-10 to the new parkway via 6th Street.[6]
The Maclovio Barraza Parkway is a 4 lane, 30 Mile per Hour roadway connecting Broadway Boulevard to 6th Street. Construction of the parkway began in August of 2020 in the second phase of the RTA plan.[7] The new Maclovio Barraza Parkway opened to all traffic on February 17, 2023.[8][3] The remaining western section of the Downtown Links project is planned to be completed in Summer of 2024.[9]
Southeastern Tucson extension
In 2011, ADOT started a study to connect SR 210 to I-10 at Alvernon Way in southeast Tucson.[10] The new roadway would be built to freeway standards from I-10 to the current terminus at Golf Links Road.[11] In December 2020, ADOT released final design concept report on the extension as part of the I-10 widening project. SR 210 will be extended to I-10 at the Alvernon Way interchange. The eastern terminus interchanges at Alvernon Way and Golf Links Road will be reconfigured into a single interchange. SR 210 will be extended southward as a freeway along the Alvernon Way right-of-way with an interchange at Ajo Way. The extension will be phases five, seven, eight, and nine of the 18 phase I-10 widening project, which is expected to cost $1.2 billion.[12][13][14][15]
At-grade intersection; signed as exit 2 westbound; eastern terminus of Maclovio Barraza Parkway; western terminus of SR 210; west end of limited-access section
2.36
3.80
3
Kino Parkway
2.88
4.63
4
22nd Street east
Traffic-light interchange; westbound ramp signed as exit 4; no access from 22nd Street to SR 210 eastbound; east end of limited-access section
4.78
7.69
—
Alvernon Way
Interchange
4.96
7.98
—
Golf Links Road
Interchange; temporary eastern terminus
Ajo Way
Future diamond interchange; currently an at-grade intersection on Alvernon Way
