Subject: Light-rail construction begins with utility work on Main St. 
Date: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 5:39 PM

Light-rail construction begins with utility work on Main St. 

 

By BLAKE HERZOG TRIBUNE 
   

The removal of two light poles and a fire hydrant this week will kick
off Mesa's light-rail construction work, a project expected to be
completed by the middle of 2008. 
   

Valley Metro spokeswoman Daina Mann said these first steps to be taken
within Mesa's borders, on Main Street just east of the Tempe Canal, will
begin Thursday and are necessary to make way for Cox Communications to
relocate its underground utilities in that same area. 
   

This, in turn, is being done because crews will begin rebuilding much of
the bridge over the Tempe Canal sometime in January, in order to
strengthen it so it can support the line's 49-ton vehicles. 
   

"That's when a lot of the significant work will start," Mann said. 
   

She said traffic will be restricted to one lane in each direction for up
to 10 months on the road where it goes over the canal. 
   

Mesa's almost one-mile segment at the eastern end of the Valley's
initial 20-mile Metro rail line is projected to cost $58.3 million to
design and build, Mann said. 
   

Light rail construction is already slowing down traffic along half a
mile of the street east of Loop 101, an area many associate with Mesa
even though it is technically in Tempe. Traffic is beginning to back up
in front of Watson Flowers, 2525 W. Main St., founded by manager Lois
Daly's grandparents in 1927 before the area was annexed by Tempe. 
   

The family-owned business opened a second location at Guadalupe Road and
Val Vista Drive early last month to cope with the expected traffic
disruptions. 
   

Light-rail related construction cut phone service to the original
location Saturday afternoon, which was restored by the time it reopened
Monday morning. 
   

"That was a little disturbing, since most of our business is done over
the phone," she said. Mann said anyone with information about a utility
service disruption that might be connected to the light-rail
construction should call Valley Metro at (602) 254-7425 to be routed to
the right provider.