Mesa METRO Extension Open House, 2010-12-10 November 25th, 2010
METRO Press Release –
Draft Environmental Assessment Available for Review
One opportunity to review is a public meeting on Dec. 10, 2010
METRO and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) have prepared a Draft Environmental Assessment (Draft EA) report for the Central Mesa extension of light rail on Main Street to Mesa Drive in accordance with requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. The federally-required EA evaluates the potential impacts to the neighboring environment. Many social, economical, and environmental categories were evaluated including noise and vibration, traffic and parking, historical and archaeological resources, and potential impacts related to construction activities. METRO will take public comments on the draft EA from Nov. 24 – Dec. 24, 2010. All comments received by Dec. 24, 2010 will be addressed in the Final EA.
The public is invited to attend an open house in which project staff will provide information, respond to questions and receive comments on the Draft EA.
Friday, Dec. 10, 2010
6 – 8 p.m.
OneOhOne Gallery
101 W. Main St., Mesa
Copies of the Draft EA are also available for review at the following locations:
- METRO’s website – www.metrolightrail.org/centralmesa
- METRO’s office – 101 N. 1st Ave., Ste. 1300, Phoenix
- Mesa’s Main Library – 64 E. 1st St., Mesa
For additional information or to submit comments in writing or by phone, please contact:
Robert Forrest, METRO
101 N. 1st Ave., Ste. 1300
Phoenix, AZ, 85003
602-322-4514 phone
rforrest@metrolightrail.org
Jerome Wiggins Federal Transit Administration, Region IX
201 Mission St., Ste. 1650, San Francisco, CA, 94105-1831
415-744-2819 phone jerome.wiggins@fta.dot.gov
An electronic comment form is also available at www.metrolightrail.org/centralmesa. Persons with disabilities may request reasonable accommodations by contacting Robert Forrest at 602-322-4514/TTY 602-322-4499.
Mesa to expand METRO, extend its downtown May 19th, 2010
From the East Valley Tribune:
Mesa has struggled for years to make its mile-long downtown vibrant, but a new light rail segment is triggering calls to extend the city’s urban core by several miles.
Key city officials say they want to expand the downtown-style streetscape at least two miles to the west, where the Metro system now ends at Sycamore Street.
Nick Davis, whose family owns the Citrus Grove trailer park, [said] “Main Street is ripe for redevelopment if light-rail is built on it and the city incentivizes it. I honestly believe that it can happen if you have a real downtown in Mesa, something that people are really proud of and proud to go down to.”Davis said he was a skeptic of light-rail’s redevelopment potential until watching new businesses sprout up after the initial 20-mile segment opened in late 2008. His family owns a plaza in Phoenix at 4700 N. Central Ave., which is south of Camelback Road. Davis said that part of Central enjoys much of the life that downtown Phoenix has, demonstrating a large amount of redevelopment can take place over a wide area.
The economy could make redevelopment tougher now, but Davis said he’s encouraged by how quickly light-rail improved an area he recalls as lifeless growing up in the 1980s and ’90s…
Dated 2010-05-17. Rest of the story here.
