From: "Friends of Transit" To: Subject: Light rail article Date: Friday, July 23, 2004 4:49 PM Friends, For those of you who weren't able to join us for the Partners in Progress luncheon, you missed a spectacular event. Over 600 people attended this exciting luncheon. You will note below a copy of the Arizona Republic which mentions the event and some highlights. To those of you who were able to make it, thank you very much. Friends of Transit is already beginning to plan for the Third Annual Conference to be held in early February of 2005. We will be sending more information later this Summer. David Schwartz Executive Director Light-rail photos, films show how trains, stations will look Bob Golfen The Arizona Republic Jul. 23, 2004 12:00 AM The opening of the Valley's light-rail system is four years away, but prospective riders can see what it looks like now. Valley Metro Rail has generated a series of realistic photo simulations that show how each of the 26 finished rail stations will blend into the streetscape, including details of the shade structures and waiting areas. Related info . View Valley Metro's plan for light rail There are also animated films on the transit authority's Web site that show the light-rail trains in action, pulling into stations and rolling through traffic on city streets. A new animated film premiered Thursday during a Partners in Progress luncheon and award ceremony hosted by Valley Metro and Friends of Transit at Phoenix City Plaza. About 600 business and community leaders, elected officials and rail supporters attended. The new film shows a detailed view of a light-rail train arriving at a station, picking up passengers and traveling along Central Avenue. Each rail station on the 20-mile route will be unique, said Betsy Moll, Valley Metro Rail's manager of architecture and design, although they will be constructed from standardized pieces known as a "kit of parts" by rail designers. Shade was the priority for the station designs, Moll said, with the structures evolving through public meetings and architects' renderings. The result is a station system of airy latticework, heat-resistant canopies and shade trees designed to provide protection from the sun throughout the day, including when the sun is low in the sky in late afternoon. "Shade was the biggest issue," Moll said. "It's interesting to see how that one issue came to such an elegant solution." Construction of light rail begins in the fall with the largest project, a maintenance and storage facility east of Sky Harbor International Airport. Later this year, work will begin on the bridge over Tempe Town Lake. In fall 2005, street construction is schedule to start on the rail line, which will run from 19th and Montebello avenues, down Camelback Road and Central Avenue into downtown Phoenix, east on Washington Street, through Tempe near Arizona State University and about a mile into Mesa. The 20-mile line is considered a "starter" system, with expansion plans under way. The awards luncheon Thursday turned into a pep rally in support of Proposition 400, an issue on the Nov. 2 election ballot that would extend the half-cent transportation sales tax for 20 years to fund a regional transportation plan that would include additional light-rail lines, buses and freeways. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, who also serves as chairman of the Valley Metro Rail board of directors, exhorted the crowd to support the ballot measure, which he said is crucial to the future of the Valley. The light-rail system remains controversial, with opponents labeling it an expensive boondoggle that will do nothing to ease traffic congestion or air pollution. Some want light rail to be severed from the transportation-tax ballot and voted on separately.