The planners behind Tempe’s streetcar are unveiling how and where the line will run — and if you’re envisioning a shrunken-down light-rail system, think again.
Other than overhead wires, the streetcar is quite different.
The streetcar shares traffic lanes with cars.
It runs by itself instead of with one or two other trains.
And instead of stopping at massive platforms in the middle of the road, the streetcar’s stops are on the sidewalk and feel more like a bus stop.
Metro will outline the streetcar’s features Sept. 6 in Tempe, figuring most Valley residents have never experienced a modern streetcar system. Only three operate in the U.S. today, but an explosion of interest has triggered 50 communities to begin planning their own systems.
Project manager Marc Soronson said the lines spur economic development with their closely-spaced stops. Those short distances boost the number of people who walk along streetcar lines, to the point a Portland streetcar has been called a “horizontal sidewalk,” he said. A streetcar industry group has said modern streetcars can make nearby residents more active.
“The Community Streetcar Coalition refers to it as the trip not taken,” Soronson said. “You wouldn’t take your car to take that trip but you would take the streetcar to take that trip.”
Tempe’s proposed 2.6-mile-long system would run along Mill Avenue from Southern Avenue to Rio Salado Parkway. North of University Drive, the track would head northbound on Mill Avenue, then turn southbound on Ash Avenue after a short run on Rio Salado Parkway.
The one-way loop should allow the streetcar to operate on Ash when special events close Mill downtown. Also, the Ash loop would also promote a new area to development that’s been mostly lifeless for years.
“There was this opinion that if you got off of Mill a little bit, it helps further define the Mill Avenue District as opposed to just Mill,” Soronson said.
Planners have proposed 13 stops. They’re about a quarter-mile apart and even closer downtown.
The streetcar should operate slightly faster than a bus. Metro estimates it will take 20 minutes to travel from one end to the other.
The track runs in the curb lane, mostly. In downtown, the streetcar shares the single northbound travel lane while leaving space along the curb for parking. Downtown merchants told planners they didn’t want the streetcar in the parking lane because that would reduce on-street parking and sidewalk spaces for outdoor dining.
Merchants have raised concerns about construction after seeing the disruption for the Metro light-rail system, Tempe Councilwoman Shana Ellis said.
Streetcar construction in Portland took as little as three weeks to do three blocks, she said. Streetcar lines don’t require extensive utility relocation.
“The entire street doesn’t need to be dug up,” she said. “It’s a different kind of construction.”
Metro will gather public input before beginning final design work. Also, the agency is developing design guidelines for the transit stops, paint schemes and other elements of streetcar systems to be built in Tempe or anywhere else in the Valley. The streetcar will have its own character, said Ben Limmer, a Metro planning manager.
“Certainly there will be come elements of the Metro light rail woven in but really minimal,” Limmer said.
Planners are also examining whether parts or all of the streetcar line could forego overhead wires. The manufacturer that built the Metro fleet, Japan-based Kinkisharyo, has a prototype that charges batteries like a hybrid car. Other manufacturers have only recently talked to Tempe about competing systems that could be ready in time for the city, Ellis said.
Tempe expects the $130 million streetcar will receive about two thirds of its funding from the federal government. The city is applying for two funding sources. A regional transportation sales tax will fund the rest.
The streetcar won’t require Tempe to buy parcels along the lines. The city anticipates only buying slivers of land at transit stops. Tempe is considering a park-and-ride lot near Southern Avenue but further study is needed. Ellis said the city needs to be mindful of parking to prevent streetcar users from parking in neighborhoods.
Even without the streetcar operating, it’s generated interest in additional sections, Ellis said: People have suggested running it to the library on Southern, and to places on Rio Salado like the Tempe Center for the Arts, Tempe Marketplace and even the planned Chicago Cubs spring training complex in Mesa.
“There’s just all sorts of big, exiting things that are happening and down the road, the streetcar could go there,” she said.
• Contact writer: (480) 898-6548 or ggroff@evtrib.com
Suelee posted at 4:41 pm on Thu, Sep 1, 2011.
A streetcar blocking/slowing traffic in the right hand lane of a busy traffic artery is NOT "sexy," useful, or a method of "spurring economic development." The ORBIT goes through my neighborhood as well and I love it and use it. Coal burning plants generating electricity contribute to acid rain so I don't understand how this is better than a bus. Bottom line, the streetcar project in the article above is TOO EXPENSIVE and inflexible. Again, if streetcars were some sort of engine to drive economic development, every city would have them!
supplementalname posted at 1:47 pm on Thu, Sep 1, 2011.
As a resident of downtown Tempe for 14 years, i support this project 100%. I despise what has happened to downtown Mill over the past 5 years but I welcome the fact that this is progress, not digress. Let's admit, a bus stop doesn't scream "development potential". But with the senior living complex being built on Ash and with the disabilities community near Mill/Alameda, wouldn't this help? I honestly don't like Orbit driving through my neighborhood (noise and exhaust pollution) so I welcome the sexiness of a modern streetcar. Electric modern streetcar. Let's put the coal burning plants to good use and stay away from gasoline buses as much as possible.
Zona100 posted at 12:21 pm on Thu, Sep 1, 2011.
@Lauraaz
The idea the Tempe does not want higher density - while perhaps you personally don't want higher density - is not true, given the fact that our city is "landlocked" on all four sides. If Tempe is to compete (for federal dollars based on population, large and small businesses, etc.) with surrounding municipalities that have the ability to grow out across the desert floor and annex additional land, we must look within our city limits for growth as that is all we have.
I don't want to see our historic neighborhoods ruined any more than anyone else... that is, any more than they already have been due to the free-for-all sort of expansion we saw during a century of development explosion.
You're correct in that we don't need "100% development" because that doesn't occur in even the most densely populated cities (NYC has vacant lots, too). The difference is that we've got a lot more than the average city and it impacts everything from surrounding property values to attracting new businesses. You're also correct in that much of the land on the alignment is currently developed. The idea with a streetcar is multi-facted; in our case, you're also connecting people to the existing light rail alignment and starting the basis of a network that connects key nodes in the city.
As far as positive data on streetcar systems, planners and engineers have been looking at usage of existing and previously operating systems over several decades. Many municipalities around the country understand the long-term benefits but have lacked financial resources to make the initial investment in systems until recently. The same can be said of light-rail and other mass transit systems. Here are just a few cities currently proposing modern streetcar systems for many of the same reasons that Tempe is:
Fort Worth: http://www.fortworthgov.org/streetcar/
Tucson: http://www.tucsonstreetcar.com/
Oklahoma City: http://www.okc.gov/maps3/modernstreetcar.html
Kansas City: http://www.kctransit.org/newsandevents.html
Seattle: http://seattlestreetcar.com/
...and several others.
Your idea on community gardens and parks is also a terrific one, and projects like the Tempe Urban Garden do help turn vacant parcels from eyesores into great public assets.
I think the key difference in opinion at this time has to do mostly with the difference in philosophy as to how best the city and the country comes out of recession. While spending money on large projects seems counter-intuitive, there are many economists that believe infrastructure investment is key in the way it immediately puts people to work, provides a new resource for the future, stimulates surrounding businesses, and others.
I understand your points and understand the timing of this projects is likely what draws the largest skepticism more than anything, but I am optimistic that projects like these help poise the city and the state better for the future when multi-modal transit and density will only become increasingly important with rising fossil fuel costs.
lauraaz posted at 9:59 am on Thu, Sep 1, 2011.
@Zona100
1. Federal money is not free money falling from the skies. Every federal
dollar comes from somewhere. Those bonds add to the national debt
and further weaken the value of the dollars in each person's pocket. I don't
object to using federal grants for useful projects, only for stupid and unnecessary
projects like this one.
2. First, why do we need 100% development? If there are some vacant lots, let's turn
them into community gardens, parks, or playgrounds.
Just because there are some vacant properties near downtown, it
does not justify a streetcar from Southern to downtown. I repeat my previous argument, the land along Mill ave is already developed. Using economic development as a reason to build this boondoggle is a lie. Unless you are already planning to
"redevelop" our neighborhoods by tearing them down rezoning and putting up
high density building.
3. What positive data supporting streetcars? What potential of this area are
you referring to? The property IS ALREADY DEVELOPED!!!
4. I call BS If you plan a project that you know will run in the red, you need
to have a lot more evidence. Are you seriously claiming that this streetcar project
is going to draw large businesses to the streetcar route? Where are you
going to put them, Danyelle plaza? We DON"T WANT ANY MORE HIGH DENSITY
BUILDING. You guys have already ruined downtown. Leave our neighborhoods alone.
Zona100 posted at 9:07 am on Thu, Sep 1, 2011.
@Suelee: The streetcar service was stopped in 1947 because a fire destroyed most of the rail fleet: "On October 3, 1947, a catastrophic fire destroyed most of the streetcar fleet. City officials faced the decision to either rebuild the fleet or use buses" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Street_Railway).
Also: "The Streetcars were very popular with the public and remained in operation until a 1948 when, after a carbarn fire, they were replaced by buses" (http://phoenixtrolley.com/history/). There is plenty of additional literature on the old streetcar system. Visit the Trolley Museum if you'd like to learn more.
@Lauraaz:
1) Federal grants aren't paid back directly by Arizona tax payers. They are funds largely secured by selling national treasury bonds and national tax revenues (supported by the whole country).
2) Near the alignment are plenty of vacant parcels that could and should be developed given their proximity to Tempe's urban core. Large parcels along Ash and University have sat vacant for years and part of the master planning of this project is a completed city fabric without large stretches of vacant land. The valley at large has one of the nation's worst vacant land to total land ratios in the country for a large metro area at 42.6% in the year 2000 (Pagano, 2000). In short, there is plenty of development that can occur.
3) Planners are willing to take risks on this project because of the positive data supporting streetcar systems and the potential of this selected area.
4) Popularity is success in many ways. Even systems that run in the red can be successful in the sense that they've drawn large businesses to the area, spurred employment, and cause other positive economic impacts. The net positives can be extremely significant on projects like these.
lauraaz posted at 7:56 am on Thu, Sep 1, 2011.
Zona100, I have to disagree
1. Federal funding for this is our tax dollars just like the local
money. To build this two mile route will cost roughly 30
million of our tax dollars and millions more each year to
run it.
2. Look at the map above, the entire route is already developed
as neighborhoods, the high school, St Luke's. Just what kind
of economic development are you proposing, and where?
3. Good intentions are not enough, and when a project fails its
too late to get our money back, the innocent are blamed and
the guilty get promoted. This is just a gift to the developers,
and offsite parking for the downtown merchants.
4. Popularity is not success. This project is going to seriously
impact that stretch of Mill, and the neighborhoods around it.
It will run at a loss costing us millions a year to fix a problem
that we don't have. The city council and the developers won't
rest until they get to build more high density buildings downtown
without adequate parking, and then start moving the high rise
building outside of the downtown area. If they have their way,
they will turn the whole city into Rural Rd between broadway
and Curry.
Suelee posted at 6:14 am on Thu, Sep 1, 2011.
Streetcars were removed in 1947 because buses were less expensive and more flexible. Again, the ORBIT minibuses are FREE and designed for short hop commutes. Streetcars do NOT spur economic development. If they did, EVERY city would still have them. Let's forgo this expensive boondoggle.
Zona100 posted at 12:03 am on Thu, Sep 1, 2011.
1) A vast majority of the funding is federal, not your local tax dollars (although some of it is). The same federal money has been used to build Roosevelt Dam and a host of other big dollar projects that make and have made life possible in the valley for a metropolitan area.
2) Street car systems, like light and heavy rail systems, spur economic development along the alignment in ways that buses do not. The implementation of big-dollar infrastructure has a leap-frog effect in most cases and business owners usually want to locate in these areas.
3) The placement of this rail alignment is the result of a multi-year study looking at many transit solutions for the area. Counter to what some may think, most people hired to work on these projects want to improve the city... not waste people's money and their own time. A designer or engineer that is involved in a project that proves horrendously misguided will have a hard time finding work in the future.
4) Streetcars can be successful in the desert. Downtown Phoenix had a popular streetcar system from 1887 to 1947 (much akin to San Francisco's system that is still popular), and the only reason service stopped is because of a fire that destroyed the vast majority of the vehicle fleet.
redtide posted at 8:09 pm on Wed, Aug 31, 2011.
Amen to all those commenting so far. renew21 should be in charge of planning in Tempe. Nobody besides a couple of downtown developers (who are trying to get the city to condemn land for them to develop) and all the consultants ( who are making a buck off this mess) like the trolley. It's a bad project, the buses they want to cut are faster,and get into the neighborhoods. Th trolley will ruin the downtown and we can't afford it .
JohnL posted at 5:34 pm on Wed, Aug 31, 2011.
Is it a prerequisite to be insane to be on a city council?.
Just wondering.
lauraaz posted at 10:04 am on Wed, Aug 31, 2011.
If this is built, it will become an excuse for the city and the developers
to build more high density housing along its route. So, are they planning
to put the high rise housing in Danyelle plaza, or are they going to
attack out neighborhoods between broadway and southern with
tear downs and rezoning?
In June, Tempe purchased a large portion of Danyelle plaza from local
insiders, John and Barbara Bebbling (Cabo Marlin LLC). I can't find any
of the details of that purchase in the press or Tempe Website. It was
last Mortgaged 8/31/09 by Cabo Marlin for $750250.
I would like to know what was paid for this land, and what Tempe plans
to do with it.
renew21 posted at 9:07 am on Wed, Aug 31, 2011.
The nice thing about streetcars is that they are cheaper than light rail, but go even slower. However, the problem here with Tempe is that the density is not there. I have ridden on Portlands Streetcar and enjoyed it and it worked well for what is was planned to do. It was well connected to light rail, the density along the line was high enough to support such a transportation mode, and connected PSU with other important areas. It has also spurned some economic development in the pearl district. But at what cost is this viable? Im not sure even Portlands streetcar works finically. But around tempe and ASU, the bus system works great. But the time to build a streetcar is not right now when the density cannot support such an option. This has been a wet dream of the city for a while. Maybe in the future, down rio salado pkwy to Mesa would be a better route due to potential higher density along the river.
Suelee posted at 7:03 am on Wed, Aug 31, 2011.
We already have a flexible ORBIT system for this type of hop-on, hop-off, sort of short commute. I am sure that it is lot less expensive to add an ORBIT minibus to include this route rather than this outrageously expensive "streetcar." Additionally, traffic on Mill is already a nightmare, with this "horizontal sidewalk" blocking the right hand lane, people will avoid Mill Avenue like the plague.
hadenough posted at 8:01 pm on Tue, Aug 30, 2011.
Sounds like the city council is playing house with developers and their lawyers.
lauraaz posted at 7:09 pm on Tue, Aug 30, 2011.
Let me get this straight. Tempe is going to spend 130 million of our
taxes on a two mile streetcar line. They have already said in the past
that its not going to replace the buses currently running on Mill. The
people living between Mill and College already have a choice of an orbit
down college, or buses down Mill. When is the Tempe city government
going to stop spending a fortune to subsidize the downtown merchants
at a huge cost to its neighborhoods?
The city, the merchants, and ASU all seem intent to more and more
downtown growth without the local parking to support it. Now they want
to use our neighborhoods as offsite parking. How much are we going to
have to pay to maintain and operate this boondoggle? You know its
going to operate at a loss.
If they want it so bad, let the downtown merchants, ASU, and the owners
of the Danyelle plaza pay for it to be built and the costs of operation.
Dale Whiting posted at 6:45 pm on Tue, Aug 30, 2011.
"built by a Japanese manufacturer"? Sooner or later we need to decide whether or not the US will build anything other than rest homes!