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Mesa officials advocate 2nd light-rail expansion City looks down the road at revitalization by Gary Nelson - Jul. 6, 2012 12:00 AM The Republic | azcentral.com There's no money in the pipeline and no timetable for construction, but that's not stopping Mesa from aggressively pursuing another 2 miles of light rail. The city already is first in line for an initial extension of the 20-mile line that opened in Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa in late 2008. Construction is ramping up this summer for 3.1 miles of new tracks along Main Street from the Sycamore Street station eastward through downtown. That leg is expected to go into operation by late 2015, about the same time Metro light rail predicts service will start on a 3.2-mile extension along 19th Avenue in north-central Phoenix. Future light-rail extensions are on the books as well, with some penciled in for as far as two decades from now. But Mesa wants the leg from Mesa Drive to Gilbert Road to jump to the front of the line for a couple of reasons. First, the city believes Gilbert Road is a more logical terminus than Mesa Drive and would attract more riders. Second, it sees light rail as a catalyst for redeveloping an aging commercial corridor just east of the city's downtown core. Those assumptions were confirmed by a $500,000 feasibility study that Mesa paid for last year and that was finalized in May. The study, conducted in partnership with Metro, said running tracks from Mesa Drive to Gilbert Road would cost between $103 million and $115 million in 2011 dollars, depending on traffic configurations. The higher price would apply if Main Street remained open to four lanes of traffic, largely because of land-acquisition costs. The payoff, the study said, would be an average of 3,000 more riders each workday than if the terminus remains at Mesa Drive. In addition, the study said: "Significant opportunities for economic development are possible within the projected study area." Armed with those projections, the report said the next step should be a full environmental assessment of the proposed extension. The Mesa City Council took that step Monday by approving a $750,000 environmental study. Mesa would pay the money up front, and the Maricopa Association of Governments would reimburse the city by means of lower assessments for bus and rail operations. Mike James, Mesa's transit director, said the study is expected to further refine cost estimates and home in on traffic-configuration issues. It also will look at historic resources in the neighborhood, possible impact on traffic and parking, land-acquisition requirements and "environmental justice." That refers to whether the extension would negatively and disproportionately affect poor people or minorities. The original 20-mile line cost $1.4 billion. The 3.1-mile extension now under way in Mesa is pegged at about $200 million, coming entirely from federal grants and the county's transportation sales tax. Although no funding has been identified for the Gilbert Road extension, a favorable recommendation in the upcoming environmental study could begin to move the project up the federal priority list. Mayor Scott Smith has said after past visits to Washington, D.C., that federal officials already are favorable to the idea. That, in turn, could accelerate the day when light rail runs all the way out to Superstition Springs Center mall at Power Road and U.S. 60. Mesa's preliminary study looked down the road to when that might happen, suggesting two routes once the tracks reach Gilbert Road: Continue east on Main Street, then south on Power. Go south on Gilbert Road to U.S. 60, then east along the freeway right of way to the mall. Of the two scenarios, sticking to Main Street is likely to produce 1,300 more riders per day, the study said. But a decision on that question probably won't be made for years. |