DALLAS — Regional transportation planners in the Phoenix area will take the first step toward a rail link to the western suburb of Glendale next week with the $878,000 study of the new route.
The western link to Glendale is designed to connect to the Arizona Cardinals’ new baseball stadium and the jobing.com arena where the National Hockey League’s Phoenix Coyotes play.
At a board meeting next week, Valley Metro is expected to award the consulting contract for the study of the western line. The transit agency’s policy is to begin studying a potential extension 10 years before it is expected to open.
Despite falling sales tax revenue, ridership on the first 20-mile light-rail line from downtown Phoenix to the East Valley suburbs of Mesa and Tempe is surpassing expectations, according to the most recent reports.
Phoenix-area voters approved an additional 27 miles of extensions when they passed Proposition 400 for the light-rail system in November 2004. The 20-mile Metro starter line opened Dec. 27. The line connects to Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport, which is planning a people-mover system to serve the light-rail station nearest the airport.
With 27 miles of planned new rail, along with 10 miles of previously-approved extensions, Valley Metro would operate 57 miles of light rail by 2030. The westward extension is funded through transportation taxes approved by residents of the cities of Glendale and Phoenix.
Funding for the construction is expected to come from federal grants, along with regional and local revenues.
Planning for the western line coincides with falling sales tax revenue that could delay some projects. A northern extension of the starter line has been placed on hold, and planning for all lines has been postponed by at least a year.
Mesa, the second largest city in the metro area, is seeking federal funds to extend the rail line to its downtown. Officials have decided to use a rapid bus system in south Tempe rather than a light-rail extension.
Even with federal stimulus funding supporting mass transit, burgeoning rail systems in the Southwest are finding it difficult to fully fund their expansions. In Denver, the Regional Transportation District is planning to ask voters to approve a sales tax increase to allow completion of the FasTracks light-rail system by the target date of 2017. Cost overruns would otherwise force the RTD to pare back its plans.
Unlike the district, which is a separate governmental entity, Valley Metro is a membership organization, within which most services are separately funded and operated by individual cities and suburbs in Maricopa County. Valley Metro does not issue debt, but relies on its member cities to issue their own bonds for transit projects. The cities agreed to participate in Valley Metro as a unifying name to streamline service and reduce rider confusion.
