The City of Tucson has scheduled a major roadway project on Houghton Road, with work slated to start by the end of the year. The improvement effort will cover the segment of Houghton between 22nd Street and Irvington Road. City officials have outlined a plan that changes the configuration and infrastructure along that corridor, and they say construction will begin before the calendar year ends.
Under the plan, Houghton Road will be expanded to six lanes along the project limits. The scope of work includes new bridge structures and a package of safety and mobility enhancements intended for people driving, riding bicycles and walking. The city has detailed that the improvements will consist of new marked crosswalks and additional traffic signals at key intersections along the corridor.
Stormwater management is also part of the project specifications. The work will include improvements to the drainage system designed to better handle storm runoff in the area. City documents describe upgraded drainage as an integral component of the work, meant to address how stormwater moves through the project corridor and to reduce flooding and related impacts at certain points along Houghton.
Construction planning anticipates a two-year timeline once work is underway. City officials have communicated that, from the time crews break ground, the project is expected to take approximately two years to reach completion. That timeline covers the full suite of activities outlined in the project description, from the widening work to the installation of bridges, crosswalks, traffic controls and upgraded drainage systems.
Aerial photo of Houghton Road in Tucson showing the existing roadway and surrounding desert landscape ahead of the planned widening project.
The aerial views used in planning and public materials show the existing roadway and the surrounding desert landscape through which Houghton passes. Those images have been used to illustrate the current configuration of lanes, adjacent land uses and the alignment where the widening and infrastructure work will take place. The visual context provided by aerial photography accompanies maps that identify the limits of the project and its relationship to nearby transportation and community landmarks.
Map showing the Houghton Road widening project limits near I‑10, the Pima County Fairgrounds and the Brekke/Dawn Road area.
Project mapping supplied with the City of Tucson materials locates the work in relation to the Interstate 10 corridor, the Pima County Fairgrounds and the Brekke/Dawn Road vicinity. Those maps delineate the stretch of Houghton targeted for improvements and show how the planned expansion connects to other major routes and local destinations. The maps are part of the public information package intended to help residents, commuters and businesses understand the area affected by construction and the intended physical limits of the project.
City officials describe the Houghton Road widening as a coordinated package of roadway, bridge, pedestrian, bicycle and drainage work. The list of planned installations — additional lanes to reach a six-lane cross-section, newly constructed bridges, marked crosswalks and added traffic signals — is presented by the city as the principal elements of the contract. Officials have provided the two-year construction estimate as the timeframe for completing those components once construction crews begin the project.
The start-of-work timeframe — planned for before the end of the current year — and the projected two-year construction duration are the schedule details made available in the city’s project notice. Further announcements from the City of Tucson are expected to provide construction phasing, traffic control plans and any additional timeline refinements for residents and drivers in the area as the start date approaches. The city has identified the scope and basic schedule for the Houghton Road work and will supply more specific operational details to the public as preparations for construction continue.
Utility relocations along the corridor, a prerequisite for full construction, are expected to finish by late summer according to RTA updates and the official Houghton Road Corridor site (houghtonroad.info). That site also lists additional planned features including a PELICAN signal at the school, bus pullouts, noise-mitigating asphalt, public art and native landscaping with water harvesting.
In June 2026 the Regional Transportation Authority approved an amendment that increases RTA construction funding for the Houghton Road (22nd Street to Irvington) project by $61,204,554, bringing total RTA-authorized funding to roughly $73.2 million and showing total project funding expected at about $80.3 million (a mix of RTA, HURF and other local sources).
The RTA exhibit tied to that amendment identifies the duration of work covered by the funding as 36 months with an estimated completion date of July 1, 2029, and names City of Tucson project manager Kyle DeWitte as the lead contact for the project.