by David Madrid – Apr. 1, 2011
The Arizona Republic
The Southwest Valley is in line for light rail that would move riders to and from downtown Phoenix along Interstate 10 to the 79th Avenue Park-and-Ride.
The line is scheduled to open in 2021, but a reduction in Proposition 400 tax money due to a bad economy could push that date back a year, said Hillary Foose, a spokeswoman for Metro Light Rail.
Foose said half the money for the light-rail route comes from Prop. 400 and half is federal funding.
“The time frames are directly related to available funds, so every year we rebalance that (light-rail) map with updated funding forecasts,” she said. “We’re in the process of doing that right now, and we’ll be sharing that with our board in coming months. . . . Over the last couple of years we’ve seen some of those dates get pushed out by a year or two.”
Prop. 400, passed by Maricopa County voters in 2004, extended a voter-approved half-cent-per-dollar sales tax by two decades.
That money funds the Regional Transportation Plan, which includes buses, light rail and roads.
Avondale just wants transit options.
“As many modes of transportation we can get to move people and get them out of their cars is always welcomed and needed,” Avondale Mayor Marie Lopez Rogers said.
The city has a long-term transportation vision. It is preparing a circulator route to move residents to key points around the city. The circulator will consist of four vans that hold 11 passengers.
“One of those ways is to increase the circulator so that people aren’t waiting an hour to catch a bus, so the more frequency the more ridership,” Rogers said.
She said having “derrieres in the seats” is how a city is judged worthy of such transit options as light rail.
Avondale believes the circulator route will put those derrieres in the seats making it a more desirable destination for rail.
Rogers said she is committed to bringing more transit options to the Southwest Valley. Avondale created the Southwest Valley Rail Partnership, a group of cities and businesses that don’t want to be left out of the rail equation, whether light rail or commuter rail.
The plan, which is still being worked on, is that the Metro light-rail line that runs to 79th Avenue would begin in downtown Phoenix, run west to the state Capitol, then to Interstate 17, Foose said.
The line would go north at the I-17 frontage road and then it would be partially built in the I-10 median as it heads west. The rail line would then travel along the north side of I-10 to the 79th Avenue Park-and-Ride.
“Most of the stations with the exception of one would be on the north side of the freeway corridor, maybe with one station inside the median,” Foose said. “Running it along the north side (of I-10) has a lot of different benefits but mostly making it accessible to people . . . and for parking.”
Avondale recognizes that rail can help stimulate economic activity, but it has watched transit funding be eliminated by the state Legislature, bus routes have been lost and frequency of stops extended to an hour.
So the city decided it has to be creative in offering residents better transit options, such as the circulator.
The city wants the light rail to eventually reach 99th Avenue and I-10.
Rogers noted that the intersection at 99th Avenue and McDowell Road was rated among the Valley’s hottest intersections by Arizona realty professionals in 2007. That intersection, shared by Avondale, Tolleson and Phoenix, hosts significant retail businesses. The “hot corner” selection was based on developments, nearby population, traffic counts, median incomes, zoning and land use.
“Certainly, my thought is if we can get, whatever route it is, whether it’s on McDowell or the bank (of I-10) that they (Metro) were talking about, I would like to see it come to 99th Avenue, and I know there have been some conversations with Glendale about the possibility of going toward the Westgate area and serving that area as well,” Rogers said. “We would be able to connect to that line and move people.”
Foose said continuing rail beyond 79th Avenue to 99th Avenue and potentially along Loop 101 would likely require voters approving a continuation of the Prop. 400 sales tax.
That could be a hard sell in the Southwest Valley, which has repeatedly complained that despite West Valley officials delivering the vote to pass Prop. 400, the region has been pushed to the back of the line, and in some cases off the construction schedule, when it comes to funding roads and transit.
When Proposition 300 was approved, the Southeast Valley got most of the benefits, and Prop. 400 was sold as a way to give the West Valley more transportation equity, Southwest Valley leaders say.
