The Metro Light Rail has added an element of urban living to the streets of Tempe. Come 2016, a streetcar system, similar to ones in Portland or San Francisco, will be another public transit option.
The streetcar will run along a 2.6-mile path that stretches from Rio Salado Parkway to Southern Avenue. Between Rio Salado Parkway and University Avenue, the streetcar will run north on Mill Avenue and south on Ash Avenue, forming a loop. The route will then continue down Mill Avenue to Southern Avenue.
“Streetcar is like light rail in a lot of ways. It really differs is when you start talking about the stops,” Valley Metro spokeswoman Hillary Foose said.
The stops will be similar to bus stops and will fit more easily into existing street networks, Foose said.
While definite sites for stops are not yet decided, they will be about every half-mile, said Stephanie Shipp, Valley Metro Project Planner.
The streetcar will not affect bus service down Mill Avenue, she said.
Hannah Ritchie, an urban and environmental planning graduate student, is a proponent of the streetcar.
“It will bring connectivity to the area,” she said.
The streetcar will bring more residents and businesses downtown, Ritchie said, adding that it will bring more development to places on Ash Avenue such as the vacant lot on University Drive.
“I think that’s one of the reasons people are very about this project is because it will help to develop that section,” she said.
The streetcar will provide access to grocery stores on the southern end of Mill Avenue, Ritchie said.
“Living in more of the downtown area, it seems to me that you are very car-dependent if you want go grocery shopping,” she said.
Tempe resident Steve Rothbard, 70, said the money could be of better use to repair infrastructure.
“It’s a streetcar to nowhere just like a bridge to nowhere,” he said. “It’s ridiculous to continue spending money on stuff we don’t need and can’t use.”
As far as spurring development, Rothbard said it would be 20 years down the road but right now there is very little business on Mill Avenue.
“There’s nothing along Mill Avenue outside of downtown that needs access,” he said.
The estimated cost of the streetcar is $130 million with an annual operating cost of $3 million, according to the Valley Metro website.
Partial funding will come from Proposition 400, a half-cent sales tax to fund transportation projects approved by voters in 2004. Valley Metro is planning to receive $60 million in federal grants.
Valley Metro has started an environmental assessment to see how the streetcar will affect the surrounding area.
A draft of the assessment will be available for public review this fall, Foose said.
An extension of the streetcar down Southern Avenue to Rural Road is possible if funding becomes available, she said.
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