"Tempe Cesspool for the Arts"

aka "Tempe Center for the Arts"

Tempe Mesa Streetcar Follies????

  I guess the folks in Tempe, Mesa and at ASU have some money that is burning a hole in their pocket. Currently there is no bus service whatsoever along Rio Salado Parkway and 8th Street in Mesa where this silly "streetcar folly" will be located.

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 Center for the Arts

Tempe Cesspool for the Arts