by bryan | Apr 5, 2011 | light rail expansion, News & Information
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...
by bryan | Apr 2, 2011 | light rail expansion, News & Information
by Sean Holstege – Apr. 15, 2010 The Arizona Republic Planned extensions and routes Regional planners are mapping new light-rail lines in places that were inconceivable a few years ago, as they grapple with how urban Arizona takes shape in the coming half-century. Preliminary studies show that sufficient demand will exist for light rail to succeed on 44th Street, Camelback Road, south Central Avenue, Bell Road and other routes not previously planned, building a web far more expansive than what is currently envisioned. Officials at the Maricopa Association of Governments, Arizona Department of Transportation and Metro say the conceptual routes are not intended to replace the voter-approved plan for 57 miles of track. But early findings support leading transportation figures who say the Phoenix region has a historic opportunity to rethink light rail’s role – and maybe change some original routes. Driving the new ideas are changes in national policies, demographic trends and a deepening awareness of the causes and effects of the Great Recession. The federal government plans to ease funding for urban mass-transit projects, and Valley cities are adjusting their plans to cash in. Whatever happens may be decades away, with no money identified to build any of it. But transit and other leaders say the country is at a pivotal moment that could shape the future of cities like Phoenix. “It’s not economically sustainable to continue the infrastructure investments of the past. The times are long gone that highways and master-planned developments can be financed, publicly or privately,” said Shannon Scutari, ADOT’s director of rail and sustainability. Central Phoenix Councilman and Metro Chairman Tom Simplot said the changing...
by bryan | Apr 2, 2011 | light rail corridor, light rail expansion, News & Information
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...
by bryan | Feb 26, 2011 | light rail expansion
Jim Walsh Arizona Republic West Mesa’s assortment of boarded-up fast-food restaurants, an abandoned supermarket, run-down motels and unattractive trailer parks didn’t exactly impress a woman from Ohio riding the Metro light rail for the first time during the holidays. “She really liked Tempe, going over the bridge. She wanted to get back to Mill Avenue” for lunch, said Jim McPherson, a Phoenix historic preservationist, when asked about his mother Bea’s reaction to Mesa’s gateway along the light-rail line. “They really should start looking at what people see on both sides,” he said. “It’s a no-man’s land. You need a little more there for synergy.” … Don Mortensen, a co-owner of Light Rail Advisors, a real-estate brokerage, said he has seen a few businesses immediately adjacent to the Sycamore Station prosper, but the economic downtown and the lack of financing delayed plans for a large apartment complex. Although apartment complexes aimed at Arizona State University students are thriving along light rail in Tempe, “Mesa has been on the end of the development side,” he said. Just across the Mesa border in Tempe, crews are busy building Apache Trails,a 75-unit federally subsidized apartment complex for deaf seniors that is expected to open this summer, said Larry Schmalz,a Tempe planner. Despite the recession, light rail has been a major stimulant to construction and business development in Tempe, he said. “It’s an evolution. It takes a while for it all to come together. It’s one project at a time,” Schmalz said. But Mortensen and Teresa Brice,a former Mesa mayoral candidate and now executive director of the Local Initiatives Support Corp. in Phoenix, agreed...
by bryan | Feb 26, 2011 | light rail expansion
Jim Walsh Arizona Republic Mesa Light-rail construction schedule • 2011 – Design work continues. • 2012 – Construction delays begin as crews move utilities in preparation of construction. • 2013-16 – Heavy construction under way as crews install tracks, build stations and parking facilities between Sycamore and Mesa Drive. A site for a park-and-ride has not been...
by bryan | Feb 26, 2011 | light rail expansion
by Sean Holstege – Feb. 15, 2011 The Arizona Republic Supporters of Mesa’s planned downtown light-rail extension got a major boost Monday when President Barack Obama included money for it in his budget proposal. Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff will announce today that the government will include $38 million for the 3-mile, four-station extension in the budget for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. A budget summary posted online by the U.S. Department of Transportation lists the Mesa project. “This is a great day, great news,” Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said. “Once you get in the door, it’s rare that they pull the plug.” Read...
