Tucson, Tempe get behind trolley idea May 11th, 2010
by Sean Holstege – May. 11, 2010
The Arizona Republic
…modern, electrified streetcars are making a comeback around the country, including in Arizona.
In February, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded Tucson a $63 million grant to help build a 4-mile streetcar line linking the University of Arizona and downtown. Arizona’s second-largest city beat out hundreds of competitors for the money.
In Tempe, momentum is building behind a proposed 2 ½-mile streetcar line along Mill Avenue that would connect with the Valley’s starter light-rail line. Planners found that the streetcar is cheaper in an era of tight budgets and quicker to build than an originally conceived light-rail spur on Rural Road…
Tucson orders modern streetcars May 28th, 2009
The City of Tucson in late May ordered seven modern streetcars from Oregon Iron Works (www.oriron.com), the first American company in sixty years to manufacture one. The company, in Clackamas, Oregon, has received orders both from Portland and now Tucson. The company, founded in 1944, builds bridges and military patrol craft; and especially because of “Buy American” requirements, could capture a fair percentage of orders from the dozens of cities across the country considering streetcar service.
Story from Oregon Public Broadcasting: http://news.opb.org/article/5078-tucson-orders-seven-streetcars-oregon-company/
Scottsdale: Light Rail Not Ruled Out October 17th, 2007
by Brian Powell, East Valley Tribune, 17 October 2007
A new report concludes that light rail, modern streetcar and bus rapid transit should all still be considered along Scottsdale Road through downtown…
The eagerly anticipated high-capacity transit feasibility study, released by the city on Tuesday, says the three options should be studied further… if light rail is selected to run between the Tempe border and Chaparral Road, it should not travel through downtown on Scottsdale Road, but rather along Drinkwater or Goldwater boulevards until it can reconnect with Scottsdale Road… There is also an option to have light rail [terminate] at SkySong at McDowell Road.
The report, part of the $1.1 million update to the city’s Transportation Master Plan, is scheduled to be presented to the Scottsdale Transportation Commission on Thursday, and the City Council during a study session on Tuesday. It has been the most contentious part of the plan update, which has studied streets, bikes, pedestrians and other forms of transit…
Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce President Rick Kidder said he had not seen the report, but said the group still favors light rail or streetcar…
Rest of the story at: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/99779
Tucson set to approve streetcar route March 24th, 2007
Tucson’s modern streetcar project… is approaching the end of its gestation period… The City Council is scheduled to vote March 27 on what is called “the locally preferred alternative route.”
The route begins near Helen Street and Campbell Avenue, just south of University Medical Center. It will head south on Cherry Avenue to Second Street and the Main Gate shopping district, then go west on University Boulevard and south on Fourth Avenue.
From there it will go under the new and as-yet-unbuilt Fourth Avenue underpass. The streetcar will then head west on Congress Street and end up west of Interstate 10 in the cultural campus now under construction near the base of “A” Mountain…
