Breakfast Meeting January 20th, 2009
| March 21, 2009 | ||
| 9:00 am | to | 11:00 am |
Members and guests are invited to a breakfast meeting and presentation. Come hear an update on light rail and commuter rail in Phoenix and Tucson.
This is a free event, but please patronize our host restaurant. Location TBA (Phoenix or Mesa). RSVP 480.947.5710
Membership Picnic, Scottsdale January 20th, 2009
| February 14, 2009 | ||
| 1:00 pm | to | 4:00 pm |
Please join us at the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale for a free Membership Picnic. This is a potluck event, guests RSVP to 480.947.5710 if you are not currently an ARPA member.
METRO: 19th Avenue and Mesa Extensions January 14th, 2009
Construction on the 3.2-mile northwest extension of the Metro light rail line could start by April if everything goes according to plan.
The only caveat is the price tag, which won’t be known until late January or early February…
[Meanwhile in Mesa]
…Although the final reports have yet to be written, Mesa is leaning toward extending the light rail line from its current origination point at Sycamore and Main streets east to Power Road, according to Mesa Deputy Transportation Director Mike James.
“In general terms, our findings about ridership and demand are that light rail would be better (than other transit options), and extending it down Main Street would make for a more seamless trip,” James said.
Rest of the story in the Business Journal of Phoenix, 26 December 2008.
90,000 riders ride METRO on first day January 14th, 2009
Ninety thousand people showed up on opening day Saturday as Metro light rail made its debut through Phoenix, Mesa and Tempe.
Curious crowds were out Sunday as well, helping push toward Metro’s prediction of nearly 200,000 riders on the rail line’s first weekend, said Hillary Foose, Metro’s public information officer, who was in the middle of the fray both days.
Rest of the story in the Busines Journal of Phoenix, 28 December 2008.
Sun Devil Stadium on METRO opening weekend January 8th, 2009
LRV 114B leads a westbound train out of the Tempe Transportation Center. Marc Pearsall photo
Opening weekend’s popularity is evident in this photo of METRO light rail in Tempe, Arizona. December 27-28, 2008 saw over 150,000 riders try out the new 20-mile train service linking Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa.
Here, LRV 114B leads a westbound train out of the Tempe Transportation Center, just steps from Arizona State University’s Sun Devil Stadium, which saw another 70,000 Kansas-Minnesota football fans crowding on and near the train for New Years Day’s Insight Bowl.
This portion of the METRO light rail is historic, as the mainline was build within the former “Creamery Branch” railroad right-of-way. Originally built through Tempe as a far flung-Santa Fe Railway subsidiary Phoenix & Eastern, the mainline from Phoenix to Tempe — and eventually Winkleman, Arizona — was turned over to Southern Pacific control in 1908. Downgraded over the years to a spur line known locally as “The Creamery Branch” due to the traffic generated by the still-standing 8th Street Dairy Creamery (Four Peaks Brewery today), the spur was abandoned by Union Pacific in 1997 when the Hayden Flour Mill in downtown Tempe closed.
METRO light rail bought the right of way in 2003 and the new Tempe Transportation Center was built upon the site of the original P&ERR depot! What is old is new again!
