Video by John Gale
Light rail made its Tempe debut Wednesday and drew public reactions varying from disgust to delight.
A single train crossed Town Lake shortly after 1 p.m. and was tested throughout the afternoon along the rail track that cuts through downtown Tempe, across Mill Avenue and near Wells Fargo Arena.
The town of Maricopa is now connected to Downtown Phoenix by two daily round-trips of the “Maricopa Xpress.”
For now, buses whiz past Chandler, Ahwatukee, and Tempe and only stop in downtown Phoenix, but it’s a great start.
Tempe is more of a hub for Chandler residents than officials thought.Mike Normand, Chandler transportation planning manager, said he was surprised by a recent consultant’s report that estimates more than 15,000 people from west and central Chandler drive to Arizona State University every day and more than 60,000 make a daily Chandler-to-Tempe trip for business, shopping or dining…The report was aired at a recent City Council study session. It’s part of a two-year study by Metro, which is trying to decide the best way to extend the initial 20-mile light-rail line being built…
Marc Soronson, project manager for the Tempe South Alternatives Analysis, said… his priority is extending the light rail line… to Southern Avenue… Normand said Chandler wants to be at the table [on further extensions]…
Planners’ biggest hurdles will be putting a light rail line over or under a Union Pacific track north of Broadway Road and extending a rail line on the already congested Rural Road..
Jyme Sue McLaren, deputy public works manager for Tempe, said city designers are preparing to suggest a hybrid light rail line along Rural Road that would share left turn lanes with cars and wouldn’t requiring elimination of driving lanes or destruction of street-side businesses.
State estimates project that by 2015, transportation funding will decline to the point that much of the state will only be able to maintain and preserve existing roadways…
The assessment is at the heart of a new planning document identifying nearly $42.6 billion worth of critical transportation needs. In the 21-page report, the Arizona Department of Transportation says the state is at a transportation-funding crossroads…
The proposed solution is a new 1 cent statewide sales tax over 30 years and more participation by the private sector in transportation projects. The money would pay for roadways, rail projects… [emphasis added - ARPA staff]…
The plan is being pushed by a group of business and economic-development leaders called the TIME coalition… [and] Gov. Janet Napolitano…
Southwest Rail News RailLife (Phx. Light Rail)
