Homeless in Arizona

And it is things like this that make Mesa Mayor Scott Smith look like a fool when he claims he is going to help Washington D.C. cut the pork. This project will almost certainly be an unneeded project that is financed with Federal pork.

Source

Streetcar plan inches ahead for Rio Salado, to link Tempe with Mesa

By Gary Nelson The Republic | azcentral.com Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:06 AM

Evidently, a streetcar linking Mesa and Tempe is desired.

Representatives of Tempe, Mesa, Arizona State University and Valley Metro, the regional transportation agency, have agreed to conduct an early financial analysis of the project, according to minutes of a meeting held Jan. 7.

The parties are looking into whether a public-private partnership would work, as opposed to funding the line entirely with tax dollars. That could bring the project to fruition far more quickly than if it had to stand in line for scarce public money. [Why on earth would a private business want to get involved in the money losing business of mass transit. For every dollar in revenue they collect most government public transportation systems lose 4 dollars with the Feds subsidizing those losses]

Documents pertaining to the Jan. 7 meeting mention neither a price tag nor a construction timeline.

Tempe and Valley Metro already are in the thick of planning a streetcar line from Southern Avenue to Rio Salado Parkway on Mill Avenue. At Rio Salado, it would jut west to Ash Avenue, south to University Drive, then east back to Mill.

The total route would be 2.6 miles for an estimated cost of $129 million, of which $73 million already is available. It is part of a regional transportation plan approved by Maricopa County voters through Proposition 400 in 2004, but it also depends on federal grants.

Valley Metro spokeswoman Hillary Foose said even though the Federal Transit Administration has not approved funds for the Mill Avenue line, it recently signaled continuing interest in the project.

The original plan, however, might need tweaks to accommodate new federal rules that require cities to show a transit project would boost economic development.

Valley Metro did some preliminary environmental-assessment work last year in downtown Tempe, but Foose said that process is only partially completed.

The Rio Salado line would be a separate project.

“Rio Salado has been on our radar for some time as a potential streetcar corridor,” Foose said. “Historically, it’s been in addition to the modern streetcar project along Mill Avenue.”

The Rio Salado route covers 3.9 miles from Mill Avenue to Dobson Road. From the heart of downtown Tempe and Tempe Town Lake, it would pass Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe Marketplace and the Chicago Cubs complex before arriving at Mesa Riverview shopping center.

It also would pass ASU property that includes Packard Stadium and Karsten Golf Course. The university is looking into major redevelopment of those sites as a funding source for Sun Devil Stadium renovations.

The corridor recently lost one of its potential draws, however, when ASU and the Cubs could not reach a deal that would have allowed ASU to use the stadium under construction at Riverview.

The Jan. 7 meeting was attended by ASU President Michael Crow, mayors Scott Smith of Mesa and Mark Mitchell of Tempe, and Valley Metro CEO Steve Banta. They envision forming a formal partnership as the process moves along and agreed on the following steps:

Valley Metro will work with the Arizona Department of Transportation to determine whether a public-private partnership could develop the streetcar system.

ASU will conduct a “value for money” analysis as to whether the project would pencil out. [Value for the money??? The question is not will the system make money, but how much money will the system lose] If the numbers look good, a full feasibility study would be conducted, including early design work, an active search for money and partners, and more analysis of land-development opportunities along the route.

ASU will conduct a design charrette, which would visualize potential development along the Rio Salado corridor.

Streetcar lines, according to Valley Metro’s website, typically use tracks like light rail, but the cars are smaller and stop more often. They can be powered either by overhead lines or batteries.

Transit officials nationwide have gravitated toward fixed-track systems in recent years because they spur more economic development than bus lines, which can be moved around at will.

Officials say, however, that whereas redevelopment along light-rail lines typically occurs near the stations, streetcar tracks tend to spawn new projects along their entire length.

Rio Salado Parkway in Mesa is a new name for Eighth Street between Country Club Drive and the Tempe border. The City Council approved the change late last year to help brand the Mesa-Tempe corridor.

Tempe revises streetcar plan in funding attempt

Tempe revises streetcar plan in funding attempt

By Dianna M. Náñez The Republic | azcentral.com Sun Mar 10, 2013 10:24 PM

Tempe is revamping its plans for the Valley’s first modern streetcar after learning that the city will not receive federal funding for a route that would have extended south on Mill Avenue from downtown toward U.S. 60.

The streetcar project, a transit route nearly six years in the making, did not meet the Federal Transit Administration’s threshold for funding under the “Small Starts” program.

The 2.6-mile line, which would have snaked through downtown Tempe and traveled south on Mill to Southern Avenue, rated well in economic-development opportunities but fell short in ratings for cost effectiveness and whether the existing land use, including current population and density levels, is sufficient to support a major transit investment.

The city faced scaling back its plans and using regional transit funds for a 1-mile route that would loop downtown Tempe on Mill and Ash avenues. The alternatives were to scrap the project and lose out on the millions in regional transit dollars dedicated to the streetcar line or to accept the FTA’s offer to overhaul the route so it would have a better chance at securing a new federal grant.

The council chose to allow Valley Metro to reconfigure the route so that the streetcar would remain in contention for federal funding.

Tempe and Valley Metro officials have long acknowledged that they were counting on federal grants for about one-third of the $129 million needed to build the 2.6-mile rail line.

Maricopa County’s regional transit board has approved $73 million for the project, which would have funded the 1-mile route.

At a Tempe City Council study session last week, Valley Metro CEO Stephen Banta reassured council members that regional support remains for the streetcar.

Banta added that federal transit officials are supportive of the city realigning the extension to serve higher-density areas, such as on Apache Boulevard, where new apartments and new Arizona State University student housing have been built.

The council gave Banta the OK to maintain the portion of the original route through downtown on Mill and Ash avenues. The FTA looked favorably on that stretch given the economic-development opportunities downtown.

Two extensions, which incorporate the loop, are under consideration for the revamped route.

One option would establish a 2.7-mile route from downtown that would run south on Mill to Apache, then east on Apache, stopping west of McClintock Drive near the existing light-rail line.

The second option would create a 2.8-mile route from downtown that would run a similar path south on Mill and east on Apache but stop at Rural Road and would include a leg that runs east on Rio Salado Parkway from Mill, stopping just west of Rural.

The council gave Banta approval to study the two extensions. The study would include an analysis of capital and operating costs, ridership and station locations and a public review.

The council also gave Banta permission to examine the potential for a public-private partnership to pay for an extension of the downtown line from Mill that would run east on Rio Salado and could travel past Town Lake and Tempe Marketplace to the new Chicago Cubs spring-training complex in Mesa.

Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell, who has long supported the Rio Salado alignment, recently attended a meeting with ASU President Michael Crow and Mesa Mayor Scott Smith to discuss public-private opportunities for that streetcar line.

Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville, who has been a vocal opponent of the streetcar’s original extension from downtown south to neighborhoods, said he considers the realignment an opportunity to build a rail line that would serve a greater number of residents.

Tempe invested time and money over the past several years in fine-tuning its streetcar proposal for the 2.6-mile route.

The rail line would have had about 13 stops and run north on Mill from Southern to Rio Salado, then west to Ash, south to University Drive, east to Mill and then south on Mill to Southern.

Some Mill Avenue merchants have said they are worried that construction on the downtown route would create economic hardships if potential customers avoid the area because of traffic woes.

But streetcar tracks do not typically run as deep as those for light rail, so there is often less need to move utility lines, which would minimize construction time and impact.

Unlike light rail, which operates in an exclusive lane, the Tempe streetcar would run in the same lane as automobile traffic.

Tempe officials have said that much of the sidewalks could remain intact because no exclusive lane would need to be built.

Portions of the street could potentially be reopened in the evening when construction stops.

That would help downtown merchants who rely on their night business.

Many residents living south of downtown applauded the original plan because it would connect their neighborhoods with the city’s popular Mill Avenue District.

“I’m sorry we didn’t get the money for the other alignment because I know that’s something that the region was looking forward to, but I never really felt comfortable with it going past (ASU) Gammage,” Councilwoman Onnie Shekerjian said.

The majority of the council considers the streetcar to be an economic engine that will drive development.

But Councilwoman Robin Arredondo-Savage has sided with taxpayers who balked at the $129million price tag to build a transit system that would have run only 2.6miles.

At Thursday’s meeting, Arredondo-Savage said she remains skeptical. Granville said he now backs the downtown loop and the extension on Apache because it serves the city’s “urban core.”

“It’s exactly what a streetcar should be,” he said.

A streetcar named Mother-May-I

A streetcar named Mother-May-I

Tempe has to rejigger a proposed streetcar route. Why? Because federal officials didn’t like the original route. Why should the views of federal officials trump those of local ones? Because the feds are being asked to pick up a third of the tab. There may remain a rationale for federal involvement in maintaining and expanding interstate highways. But there never was one for local transit projects. Local officials should make the decisions and raise the dough to pay for them.