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Talk of Arizona
Fall 2014
Continued on next page
What's in a name
Speedway Boulevard
Once derided in a national magazine as the poster child of unsightly roadways, Speedway Boulevard in Tucson takes its name from a New York City thoroughfare designed for rich men to run fast horses.
Speedway, which runs east-west through the heart of Tucson, was at least the third designation given to the road, local historian David Leighton wrote in The Arizona Daily Star in 2013.
Speedway was originally called Wilson Street
Speedway spruced up after an unflattering Life photo in 1970 (click here to see).