Sensible METRO Station Names February 25th, 2010
Proposed METRO Rail Station Name Changes.
Transit systems across the world all have stations named for landmarks, to help visitors and residents find their way. If Washington DC named their stations the way the Phoenix stations are named, they would have a station called “12th Street and Independence Avenue SW” instead of “Smithsonian.”
I served as a volunteer on opening day. On that day and ever since, tourists have asked me what station the Airport is at, and does the train go to Sun Devil Stadium? Even Congressman and former Tempe Mayor Harry Mitchell didn’t know what “Veterans Way and College Avenue” was – it needs to be the Sun Devil Transit Center.
Short, simple station names help riders find their destinations quickly. They help tourists know what is along the line. They make maps easier to read. Stations become sources of neighborhood identity. Naming stations after street addresses is cold, confusing and unhelpful. When riding the #17 bus, the announcements say, “Approaching 16th Street” and “Approaching 24th Street” — not “Approaching 16th Street and McDowell” and then “Approaching 24th Street and McDowell” — the McDowell part is obvious because that’s the bus you are on. Repeatedly saying “…and Central” on the train is silly and pedantic.
Furthermore, the stations with two platforms need to be named as one station. Signs there should be updated to, for example, “For Dobson, use platform on 1st Avenue.” Boston eliminated confusing one-way station names (Milk one way, Water the other) in the 1960s.
These station names must be changed as soon as possible.
The entire line should then resume the Red Line name, as it replaced the (pre-metro) Red Line bus… and before that, the Washington Street #1 streetcars which carried red marker lights since the 1920s at least… giving the Red Line an eighty-plus year history. As other lines are built, they should resume the color line names (Green Line on Thomas — not Highway 10!, Blue Line northeast on Highway 51, etc.)
– William Lindley, Arizona Rail Passenger Association. 2010-02-25.
| Easy Name | Current, Long, Unhelpful Name |
| Chris-Town / Bethany Home | Montebello & 19th Avenue (Montebello not on most maps) |
| 19th Ave & Camelback | (No change yet, pending neighborhood development) |
| Melrose | 7th Ave & Camelback Road (Melrose District) |
| Uptown | Central & Camelback Road (Uptown Plaza) |
| Central High | Campbell & Central Avenue (also for Brophy, Xavier, etc.) |
| Indian School | Indian School & Central (Indian School Steele Park) |
| Park Central | Osborn & Central Avenue (Park Central Mall) |
| Thomas | Thomas & Central Avenue |
| Heard Museum | Encanto & Central Avenue (Encanto not on most maps) |
| Library | McDowell & Central Avenue (Central Library) |
| Cathedral / Roosevelt | Roosevelt & Central Avenue (historic Trinity Cathedral, Roosevelt Arts District) |
| Van Buren | Van Buren & Central & 1st Avenue |
| City Hall | Jefferson St. & Central Avenue and Washington St. & & 1st Avenue (whew!) |
| Convention Center | 3d St. & Washington and 3d St. & Jefferson (Needs easy tourist name) |
| Eastlake / 12th Street | 12th St. & Washington and 12th St. & Jefferson |
| 24th Street | 24th St. & Washington and 24th St. & Jefferson |
| GateWay / 38th Street | 38th St. & Washington & Jefferson (Gateway C.C.) |
| Airport / 44th Street | 44th St. & Washington & Jefferson (Airport buses/tram) |
| Papago / Priest | Priest Drive & Washington (Papago Park, Phoenix Zoo) |
| Mill | Mill Ave & 3d Street (3d Street is only one block long!) |
| Sun Devil | Veterans Way & College Avenue (Stadium is on all maps) |
| University | University Drive & Rural Road (ASU main campus) |
| Dorsey | Dorsey & Apache Boulevard |
| McClintock | McClintock & Apache Boulevard |
| Smith-Martin | Smith-Martin & Apache Boulevard |
| Loop 101-Price Rd. | Price-”101 Freeway” & Apache (“[Highway] 101 Freeway”? Current name is incorrectly and awkwardly worded – it is “Loop 101″ and “Price Freeway” ) |
| Tri-City / Dobson | Longmore & Main Street (Longmore not on most maps) |
Surprise buys land for a park-and-ride lot May 29th, 2009
Lily Leung reports in May 29, 2009′s Arizona Republic –
Surprise’s strategic placement of a park-and-ride lot near a railway stretching from downtown Phoenix to Wickenburg is the first heartbeat in an ongoing effort to bring commuter-rail service to the Valley…
The Surprise City Council on Thursday voted unanimously to pay… for land on the southeastern corner of Grand Avenue and Bell Road. The 3.27-acre lot is near the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and will be used for a 500-space park-and-ride facility… [initially express buses] to downtown Phoenix and Scottsdale. But city officials also see securing the property as a “good positioning exercise” if a commuter railway does come in within the next 5 to 10 years, said Randy Overmyer, city senior transportation planner.
Grand Avenue and Bell Road is a heavily traveled intersection that could be a possible commuter-rail stop, according to a Maricopa Association of Governments feasibility study slated to come out by year’s end…
Rest of the story at: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/05/29/20090529parkandride0529.html
