by Gary Nelson – Apr. 4, 2011
The Arizona Republic
Long before tracks are laid for Mesa’s next leg of light rail, the city is doing early spade work on an additional two miles of the line.
The first light-rail extension, 3.1 miles from Sycamore Street to about Mesa Drive, is scheduled to open in 2016, provided federal and county money is available as promised.
It is seen as a likely catalyst for redevelopment along Main Street, the western stretches of which are marked by numerous empty storefronts.
But Mesa has said for years that ending the line near Mesa Drive doesn’t make sense, transportationwise. Pushing it to Gilbert Road, planners say, would greatly increase ridership by giving far more people easy access to the trains.
So far, that idea has been nothing but talk.
On Monday night, however, the City Council is likely to approve spending $500,000 to do early planning for the extra two miles. Mesa will contract the study with Valley Metro Rail Inc., which in turn will hire HDR Inc. to conduct the study.
HDR did much of the planning for the Mesa Drive extension, which is now being designed.
Mike James, Mesa’s transportation director, said the study will assess how much the extra tracks will cost, funding sources and issues for future environmental assessments.
In a report to the council, James also said the study “involves identifying station locations, street configuration, significant utility relocations” and necessary support facilities.
Public input would be part of the process.
Money for the study became available, James said, through one-time savings in this year’s transportation budget.
The Maricopa Association of Governments has approved the Gilbert Road extension as a future project, but there is no commitment for funding from the Proposition 400 county street and rail sales tax that county voters approved in 2004.
Federal funding is equally uncertain because of Capitol Hill budget battles.