Tucson's 2nd Saturdays Downtown Will Relocate During Streetcar Construction
By: Kelsey Denette
While construction in Downtown Tucson for the modern streetcar has been moved up, closing Congress Street to all traffic from Toole Avenue to Stone Avenue effective April 9th, 2nd Saturdays will continue its International Carnival event on April 14th as planned. All vendors and outdoor entertainment venues will be relocated to accommodate the closures.
The Cricket Kids Area will move to the Chase Bank parking lot on the northeast corner of Broadway Boulevard and Stone Avenue. The Scott Avenue outdoor stage will move to the north end of Scott Avenue at Congress Street and will face Broadway. Vendors will relocate to the side streets with the exception of the Ronstadt Station, which will remain open to sidewalk traffic along Congress Street. The Fox and the Rialto Theatres will be open with free performances as previously scheduled."We are all very excited to see the ground breaking for the Modern Streetcar," said Fletcher McCusker, Chairman of 2nd Saturdays. "The closure of Congress Street will not affect parking for our event and all merchants will be open with great 2nd Saturdays specials. Come help us celebrate the renaissance of Downtown and watch the construction for Tucson's new modern streetcar." During construction, all the parking garages will be open and accessible from detours. Automobile traffic coming from the east will be detoured to Toole Avenue westbound and 6th avenue will become two-way during the construction. From the south, enter Downtown by going northbound on either 6th Avenue or Stone Avenue. Traffic coming from the north can also enter Downtown on Stone Avenue. The easiest parking remains at: (1) Centro Garage, located just as you enter downtown from the east; (2) The Depot Garage, located below the Martin Luther King building; (3) the Pennington Garage, accessed via Pennington Street from either Stone Avenue or 6th Avenue.; and (4) La Placita garage on Jackson Street, which will now be very convenient to the Cricket Kids Area.For more information and an event map go to www.2ndsaturdays.com2nd Saturdays Downtown runs from 4pm to 10pm. Sponsors are: Jim Click Automotive Team, Cricket, Carondelet Health Network, KOLD Channel 13, KHYT/KIIM Radio, KXCI 91.3FM Community Radio, MEB Property Management and Providence Service Corp.Videos