by bryan | Oct 8, 2014 | LightRailConnect.com Magazine
Phoenix, AZ , August 2014, Light Rail Connect.com, by Bryan Watkins Every 2 months the Light Rail Connect Magazine is published. This is a successful niche publication that is unique in the Phoenix Metro area. No other publication exists that offers this targeted content. In the current edition you will easily discover near light rail: Calendar of Events and Things To Do Apartments Jobs Arts & Entertainment venues Dining You will find your personal copy at over 75 boxes near the Stations, in fine restaurants, hotels and visitor’s centers. Pick one up today before the new October publication comes out! ...
by bryan | Oct 4, 2014 | light rail expansion
courtesy of Gary Nelson, The Republic | azcentral.com April 2, 2014 STORY HIGHLIGHTS Judge OKs Mesa’s plan to fund next light-rail extension No public vote needed for rail funding plan, judge says Extension to Gilbert Road has $112 million price tag Mesa can move forward with an innovative plan to fund a future 1.9-mile light-rail extension, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday. Judge David Udall rejected a lawsuit filed by Joe Price, who owns land occupied by a used-car lot on Main Street near a planned light-rail station at Gilbert Road. Price, who frequently criticizes light-rail and other city policies in e-mails to council members, sued to stop the extension because he said the funding mechanism requires a public vote. Udall found no such requirement and rejected all the other arguments Price’s lawyer made during a March 6 hearing in Mesa. Mesa and Metro light rail are in the midst of building a 3.1-mile extension on Main Street from Sycamore Street through Mesa’s downtown to the Mormon Temple area. That work, costing about $200 million, is being funded with federal grants and the Proposition 400 regional transportation sales tax. Related: Light-rail apartments open in Mesa Service along that extension is expected to begin in late 2015. Several years ago, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith began lobbying for another extension, to Gilbert Road. He argued that because Gilbert Road is Mesa’s symbolic east-west dividing line, as well as a major traffic corridor, it made sense to run the tracks that far east. Metro weighed in with studies showing that a Gilbert Road station would boost light-rail ridership by 4,000 people...
by bryan | Oct 4, 2014 | Light Rail Business, light rail expansion
courtesy of Betty Reid, The Republic | azcentral.com May 10, 2014 STORY HIGHLIGHTS Project would take decades, cost billions People would live close to where they work, able to meet most daily needs without a car Phoenix light-rail system would be spine of project By 2040, Phoenix projects that areas along the city’s light-rail line will have fewer autos, more trees to shade a pedestrian/bike lifestyle and business and residential developments that support that lifestyle. Reinvent PHX is a proposed long-term plan that seeks to transform five of six districts in Phoenix that straddle light rail. The 20-mile rail route snakes through the neighborhoods of Gateway, Eastlake-Garfield, Midtown, Uptown and Solano. “Transforming the light-rail (corridor) as a walkable area will take time,” said Curt Upton, the Phoenix Planning Development Department’s long-range planning project manager. “For now, (it) is designed for cars.” City officials say they expect to seek the City Council’s approval of the plan by December. The city’s urban villages are scheduled to view the plan in the fall. MORE: Phoenix advances light-rail plans despite money hurdles Multiagency partnership Reinvent PHX is a partnership among Phoenix, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Arizona State University, St. Luke’s Health Initiatives and others. The group proposes to develop walkable communities connected to light rail, according to the partnership’s website. Upton said Phoenix is providing a road map and the private sector would drive the concept. The project would create “a new, transit-oriented model for urban planning and development along the city’s light-rail system,” according to the website (phoenix.gov/pdd/reinventphx.html), which has draft plans for two neighborhoods. The Gateway District, for...
by bryan | Oct 4, 2014 | light rail expansion
courtesy of Caitlin McGlade, The Republic | azcentral.com May 15, 2014 Valley Metro has staffers who help businesses affected by construction with things like marketing and connecting them to resources such as web design STORY HIGHLIGHTS Valley Metro executives are considering five routes that would link the West Valley to Phoenix near 19th Avenue and Montebello, the light rail’s most western spot The 20-miles of current light rail track, which has cost about $1.4 billion, has generated $7 billion in economic development investments around the light rail Martinez said he’d heard from businesses owners that the rail could “destroy the downtown” Valley Metro leaders at a meeting last week got a taste of the opposition they could face from some business interests in choosing a route for a connection from downtown Glendale to Phoenix. Vice Mayor Yvonne Knaack, who operates a downtown business, and Councilman Manny Martinez said business leaders along Glendale Avenue feared construction from the proposed project would hamper their sales. Knaack said she doesn’t think downtown Glendale had the room for a light-rail system, and that alterations would leave businesses too close to the street. And Martinez said he’d heard from some businesses owners that the rail could “destroy the downtown.” Those comments came at a Glendale City Council meeting at which Valley Metro officials updated the council on its study process for selecting a route and transportation mode to connect Glendale. Other members on the council — Councilmen Gary Sherwood and Sam Chavira — heralded the project as an economic driver, even though it may cause temporary pain. READ MORE: Glendale leaders urged to weigh West...
by bryan | Oct 4, 2014 | Light Rail Business, light rail expansion
courtesy of Jamie Killin, Cronkite News Service May 8, 2014 STORY HIGHLIGHTS Jeweler Matt Muralt believes the light-rail extension will be a big boost to downtown Mesa Light-rail construction is entering a more intensive phase this month Merchants have received assistance and advice on how to get through the turmoil In the not-too-distant future, Metro light-rail trains will travel along Main Street in front of Muralt’s Custom Jewelers, and owner Matt Muralt expects other changes to follow. “I see microbreweries coming down here,” he said. “I see very urban, funky shops — like toy stores, comic-book stores.” When the 3.1-mile expansion of light rail into downtown Mesa is completed late in 2015 or early 2016, Muralt expects it to complement universities that have established presences downtown. “I think it’s going to be more urban, more youthful,” he said. “Hopefully the college students find a reason to stay in downtown Mesa, and that will have to do with the merchants trying to cater to their needs so they don’t drive into Tempe or Phoenix or Scottsdale.” The $200 million project will have Valley Metro adding four stops beyond the Sycamore Station at Dobson Road: at Alma School Road, Country Club Drive, Center Street and Mesa Drive. The work downtown so far has removed a median from Main Street and prepped the area for track, poles for power, and stations. Construction to add those is just beginning. David Short, executive director of the Downtown Mesa Association, said construction will present a challenge for businesses. But in the end, he said, light rail will make downtown Mesa more livable and attract more...
