Valley Metro Conducts Environmental Study for $300 Million Northwest Light Rail Extension

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). With its 20-mile starter line on schedule to be complete and operational by the end of 2008, Valley Metro-RPTA (Regional Public Transportation Authority) (Phoenix, Arizona) and its newly formed division, Metro (Phoenix, Arizona), which is now in charge of all light rail projects, have turned their eye to expansion. The first expansion to be tackled will be the proposed $300 million Northwest light rail extension.

Valley Metro-RPTA and Metro, along with the consultant on the extension project, HDR/S R Beard (Phoenix, Arizona), are well into the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS), for the proposed extension and are currently seeking FTA (Federal Transit Administration) approvals to continue with the preliminary design work on the project.

The Northwest extension project will involve the construction of 4.5 miles of new rail line from Montebello/19th Avenue to Mountainview/25th Avenue in downtown Phoenix. Along with the new line, the project will involve the construction of five new stations as well as two new Park & Ride centers. Current schedules call for the completion of the DEIS in the summer of 2007 and for final FTA funding in the fall. A turnkey engineering and construction firm will be selected in the fall of 2007, and actual construction beginning in the spring of 2010. The extension is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2012.

The RPTA was created in 1985 when the Arizona State legislature allowed the citizens of Maricopa County to vote for a sales tax increase to fund freeway improvements and to provide for the creation of the authority, which was in turn charged with developing a regional transportation plan. In 1993, the RPTA Board of Directors adopted the name Valley Metro. Over the years, the cities of Scottsdale, Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, Glendale and Peoria, as well as Maricopa County residents have voted for additional sales tax increases to fund the authority’s 20-year transportation plan.

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