A groundbreaking ceremony in Mesa Wednesday morning marked the start of the first Metro Light Rail expansion since the original 20-mile line opened in 2008.
The $200 million Mesa light rail extension, which would add four stops to the eastern end of the rail, will begin construction in two weeks after being approved in 2009.
At Wednesday’s ceremony, Mesa mayor Scott Smith said the extension would help downtown Mesa grow.
“(The light rail) creates options for our residents,” Smith said. “Options for where they want to live, how they want to travel, how they get to work and how they are entertained.”
He said Metro Light Rail already provides these options to people who live in the vicinity of the existing light rail line.
Valley Metro estimates that close to 42,000 individuals use the light rail each day. It anticipates 10,000 new riders per day with the extension.
Valley Metro CEO Steve Banta said the Mesa extension would boost jobs and other economic activity across the Valley, not just in Mesa.
“This project has economic and transportation benefits beyond city borders,” Banta said.
The light rail now ends at Sycamore Drive and Main Street. With the extension, it will also stop along Main Street at Alma School Road, Country Club Drive, Center Street and Mesa Drive.
Valley Metro estimates that the extension will be completed and ready for operation in late 2015, earlier than the original anticipated date of 2016.
Actual construction on the track and stations will not begin until 2013. The remainder of 2012 and part of next year will be used to relocate utilities, such as gas, water and electric lines that are under the future track line.
The Mesa extension is the first of six planned light rail extensions that will expand the line to 57 miles by 2031.
The next extension would be a Tempe streetcar, scheduled to open in 2016. Other extensions in West, Northwest and Northeast Phoenix and Glendale are longer term.
Reach the reporter at julia.shumway@asu.edu or follow @JMShumway on Twitter.
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