The Beer Was Strong With This One

by | Feb 28, 2011 | News & Information

By: John Kelly The Beer Was Strong With This One On Saturday, February 19, 2011, a gathering of biblical proportions, along with beers with equally amazing alcohol contents, assembled at Steel Indian School Park in downtown Phoenix for the 11th Annual Strong Beer Festival. As the name and tag line of this article allude to, the beers served here were specially crafted to subtract one’s sobriety at an alarming rate. They were, of course, craft beers and being such, had the utmost respect for taste, body, texture and fragrance, but the brewmeisters who concocted these deadly libations were in a bit of a contest to test the physical limits of yeast’s ability to convert malted barley into alcohol. Between this and the fact that the beer gods decided it was a good day for wind and rain made the Strong Beer Festival resemble the original Woodstock by the time 4:30pm rolled around. The Festival also featured an eclectic mix of local food and musical entertainment for the patrons to enjoy, and was a welcome compliment to the quality of beer being consumed. Unfortunately, the Festival is over but listed below are just a handful of the brewery’s that participated this year. Hopefully this list will entice many of the loyal readers to join in the ruckus next year: Four Peaks                                                                   Widmer SKA Brewing                                                                 Rogue Arizona Society of Homebrewers                                   Stone Sierra Nevada Brewing                                                   Odell Grand Canyon Brewery                                                  Dave’s Electric Big Sky Brewing                                                            Nimbus Sam Adams                                                                  Left Hand Breckenridge                                                                 Full Sail Deschutes                                                                    Dogfish Head The Steele Indian School Park is located directly next to the Light Rail station located just...

Connect to Sky Harbor Airport with Light Rail

by | Feb 26, 2011 | light rail corridor, News & Information, Valley Metro

Courtesy of Metro Light Rail METRO connects to Sky Harbor International Airport at the light rail station at 44th and Washington streets using the PHX Airport Shuttle. From the 44th Street/Washington METRO station, passengers can cross Washington Street heading south and board the free airport shuttle bus. The airport shuttle buses travel to all terminals and parallels METRO’s service schedule. Click on the map to the right to download the airport shuttle map. The PHX Sky Train™ will soon replace the existing PHX Airport Shuttle. Stage one of the PHX Sky Train will transport airport visitors and employees between METRO light rail, east economy parking and Terminal 4, which serves 80 percent of Sky Harbor’s passengers. Construction will be complete in late 2013. Stage two, which will continue through the airport all the way to the Rental Car Center, will be up and running in 2020. A new gateway to Sky Harbor will be created at 44th St and Washington. This station is just a short walk in an air conditioned pedestrian walkway from the 44th Street / Washington light rail station. The elevated train will help relieve traffic jams, reduce wait times, provide hassle-free travel in climate controlled vehicles and connect to the Valley’s light rail and bus systems. Equally important, the PHX Sky Train™ will accommodate our region’s future growth and be a welcomed addition to Sky Harbor’s renowned customer service. The PHX Sky Train™, free to the public, will run 24-hours with predictable travel times—arriving at stations every three minutes during peak periods and delivering passengers to their destinations within about five minutes of boarding. For more...

Metro Light Rail Rates and Fares

by | Feb 26, 2011 | News & Information

Provided as a Public Service Announcement From Metro Light Rail news page For $1.75 you can take one ride on light rail or any local bus route. One ride on an express or RAPID bus costs $2.75. If your trip requires changing routes, or if you want to make a round trip, we have other options which may save you money. There are several pass options to choose from, depending on how you use transit. These include All-day, 7-, and 31-day passes, as well as semester passes for college students. Check our RATES & OPTIONS page for...

Metro light rail meeting to discuss Phoenix West extension

by | Feb 26, 2011 | light rail expansion, News & Information

by Emily Gersema – Feb. 26, 2011 The Arizona Republic Metro light rail is inviting the public to a meeting Wednesday so residents can learn and comment on details of the agency’s plan for light rail’s west extension through west Phoenix. The proposal under consideration by Metro’s advisory board involves laying track on Jefferson Street from Central Avenue, past the Capitol and state buildings to Interstate 17, then north to Interstate 10, where it would then run west to 79th Avenue. The proposed line would connect at Central Avenue and Jefferson Street to the existing 19-mile light-rail line that runs from 19th and Montebello avenues in Phoenix through Tempe and into west Mesa. Read...

Seattle Light Rail makes a Transit Sound

by | Feb 2, 2011 | light rail corridor, News & Information, Seattle Sound Transit

 By John Kelly As many cities are beginning to see the economic and social benefits of a Light Rail system, Seattle has recently joined the train transit club. The light rail system began by servicing Downtown Seattle to the rural city of Tukwila in July of 2009. It extended its service to Sea-Tac (the area’s regional international airport) later that year. In 2008, construction began on a new section servicing the University of Washington but there is no exact completion date. Sound Transit, Seattle’s public transportation authority estimates that by 2030, the completed light rail system will take around 115,000 riders off the roads. This will have an incredible impact on the area’s notoriously congested streets and freeways. Plans for the future include a light rail line through Bellevue, a city neighboring Seattle, as well as an extra 100,000 operational hours. These expansions will further connect citizens of the area to places where they can live, work and play in a fast and economical fashion. Sound Transit’s website, www.soundtransit.org, features a Trip Planner where riders can enter their start and ending locations as well as their required times of departure and arrival and the Planner will calculate a trip through the transit system catered to their...