Subject: Tempe's portion of rail construction mostly done
Date: Friday, June 22, 2007 11:15 PM

Friends,<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

We thought you might like seeing this article.  You will note most of
the heavy construction along the light rail line is complete in
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Tempe.  As you will read,
it looks great - the rest of us struggling with construction related
issues will maybe feel a little better knowing that there is light at
the end of the tunnel.

By the way, speaking of the impacts of construction, please remember to
shop at businesses along the route as often as you can.  Anything you
can do to help these businesses hang in there is greatly appreciated by
all.  I have been driving the route a lot lately touching base with
business owners and they are happy that so many of our friends have been
going out of their way to help.  

I will also note that traffic really isn't all that bad along the route
because so many people are avoiding it.  So, get back on those routes
and frequent the several hundred businesses along the route.

Thank you for your continued support.

Hope to see you Tuesday at Best of Philly on Central.

Thanks!

David

  _____  


Tempe's portion of rail construction mostly done


William Hermann
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 21, 2007 01:17 PM 

The Metro light rail line in the Southeast Valley has in a few months
gone from dirt and demolition to long, clean expanses of concrete and
rail, tasteful landscaping and a pleasant plaza at Arizona State
University's Sun Devil Stadium. 

Tempe deputy public works manager Jyme Sue McLaren said the mostly
finished work stretches more than four of the line's 23 miles. 

"We now have the civil work - curbs, gutters, sidewalks, utilities,
traffic signals, pavement and the track bed or guideway - done from 56th
Street and Washington to a little ways east of Rural Road," McLaren
said. "So the heavy civil work is done, some landscaping is done, but we
still have some landscaping to go." 


The completed light rail work and the accompanying cityscape is most
obvious at the base of Hayden Butte and adjoining Sun Devil Stadium.
Where once there was a small parking lot there now is a plaza with
pavers and mesquite trees. 

Arizona State University architect Ron McCoy said that creating the
plaza meant, "sacrificing some VIP parking" that was absorbed in the
parking structure at the ASU Foundation building,' McCoy said. 

Work on the plaza also meant rebuilding the trailhead at the east end of
Hayden Butte. "When we worked on the butte we were very sensitive to the
Native American presence, we understood the sensitivity of building at
base of a mountain that was sacred to the native people," McLaren said.
"In the whole trailhead area we used natural stones, used materials that
complement the area."

The light rail line also is mostly completed on Third Street, west of
Mill Avenue, though some landscaping work remains. 

McLaren said that except where pedestrians will be able to cross the
track, the landscaping will be "some sort of very dense bushes to
discourage pedestrians from trying to cross there; it's a safety issue."


Tempe will spend about $364 million on its 5.5 mile portion of the light
rail line. The cost of the nearly 23-mile line is about $1.4 billion. Of
Tempe's $364 million, about half comes from the Federal Transit
Administration and the other half has been generated by the 1996 Tempe
sales tax initiative that set aside money for transit improvements,
including bus service and bike paths.