by bryan | Oct 28, 2011 | ASU, light rail corridor, Sports
by Dianna M. Náñez – Oct. 28, 2011 Courtesy of The Arizona Republic [Editor’s Note: Go ASU! Games and Events like this keep the light rail corridor in Tempe strong and vibrant. LightRailConnect.com pushes live, work and play near the tracks] Arizona State University’s homecoming festivities are a hoot for thousands of Sun Devil fans. But Saturday’s parade at 11:30 a.m. and football game at 3:30 will cause traffic headaches for residents who want to drive to Mill Avenue for dinner or shopping. Fans will crowd parking lots and streets near the stadium and downtown Tempe. The city shuts down University Drive for the homecoming parade. To make matters worse, football fans are sharing the streets today with thousands of participants in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk, a fundraiser that starts at 7 a.m. just north of downtown and ASU at Tempe Beach Park. Sue Taaffe, a Tempe transportation spokeswoman, said the city posts traffic notices on its transit website to notify drivers and people who use public transportation of street closures and restrictions and bus detours. A quick review of the site makes it easier to navigate Tempe on days when major festivals, marathons or celebrations are scheduled. Because many major events are scheduled at Town Lake, which is near Rio Salado Parkway and Mill Avenue, two major Tempe arteries, the restrictions usually hit downtown Tempe the hardest. But there are ways to ease traffic woes, Taaffe said. “We don’t want people to think downtown is closed. It’s more challenging to get downtown, but it’s not impossible,” she said. Many downtown Tempe businesses lament that the traffic restrictions...
by bryan | Oct 15, 2011 | light rail corridor, News & Information, Sports
P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona courses get facelift going into ninth year Courtesy of Jeff Metcalfe – Sept. 28, 2011 The Arizona Republic [Editors Note: The January 15th P.F Chang’s Rock n’ Roll Arizona bumps onto the light rail corridor numerous places. LightRaiConnect.com is a strong supporter of the race!] The P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon and 1/2 Marathon is getting a course face-lift going into its ninth running Jan. 15. The start line for the 13.1-mile half marathon is being moved to downtown Tempe with the course to include a downhill section in Papago Park. The 26.2-mile marathon start will remain in downtown Phoenix but shift from the State Capitol area to CityScape, with other changes in the second half of the course. The races will overlap on opposite sides of Mill Avenue Bridge in Tempe and Rio Salado Parkway to finishes near Sun Devil Stadium. “The half-marathon route and (transportation) buses have been our biggest complaints,” said Alan Culpepper, a two-time Olympian and 2004 Olympic Marathon Trials champion who designed the course changes for the Competitor Group. “We’ve changed both of those. “It’s been one of our marquee events, and it’s time for the course to live up to how great the Valley is. We made the half (marathon) more convenient for the runners with a nicer, more-scenic route.” Runners will be able to take the light rail to and from the start/finish lines, depending where they park or are housed if visiting the Valley, likely eliminating the need for the bus transportation that was required in the past. Race organizers still are working out details...
by bryan | Mar 21, 2011 | ASU, News & Information, Sports
Tough Competition by Lynlee Smith, ASU Intern It has been a tough year for the Arizona State Women’s waterpolo team. However this has not stopped the spirit of the team and their focus on fulfilling their dreams in making the NCAA championships held in Michigan in May. Currently ranked 7th in the nation they are confident they can still fulfill their ultimate goal. “We have improved every week, although some of our results have been unlucky we are still playing great waterpolo”, Captain Sarah Harris said. The Sun devils are half way through their season having played Cal Berkeley, UCLA and USC. To date there has been some unlucky results for the Sun devils, loosing to Cal Berkeley 11-7, UCLA 8-1 and USC 12-3. “Currently we haven’t won a conference game, however have had some very big competition to come up against first up. Cal Berkeley are very strong this year as well as USC”, Senior Candice Phillippe stated. “We were unlucky in our game against UCLA, we created a lot of great opportunities however couldn’t seem to put the ball away in the cage, our shooting has improved since then and I am confident that we will put up hard competition for our up and coming opponents”. The team is still working hard and very focused on their opportunity to still make the NCAA championships at their all conference tournament MPSF at the end of April. MPSF conference is the hardest conference in the United States for waterpolo however this hasn’t busted the spirits of the Sun Devils. “We have a great group of girls who are constantly...
