Subject: Transportation and Issues Affecting the Aging & News for Our Friends Who Live, Work or Play in the East Valley Date: Friday, August 24, 2007 11:09 PM From our Friends at WTS: _____ For our Friends who live, work or play in Mesa. This is an issue that needs your input in Mesa. Downtown merchants: Light rail will kill us Gary Nelson and JJ Hensley The Arizona Republic Aug. 23, 2007 04:40 PM If you think it's tough getting around Mesa right now, just wait. By 2030, if nothing is done about it, much of Mesa will be more congested than downtown Phoenix, the area around Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and downtown Tempe. That's what transportation planners are saying. So they're busy now mapping what Mesa can do to avoid that fate. But if a small meeting of downtown property and business owners that transportation planners held Wednesday night is any indication, Main Street is not the preferred route for a proposed light rail system that would link the central city with the rest of the Valley. About eight stakeholders from the downtown area showed up at the small meeting in the city plaza and the message they sent was clear: If you run this train down Main Street, the 18-to-24 months of construction that precede it will kill their businesses. "I'm opposed because it will put us out of business," said Kim Johnson, owner of Mystic Paper. Despite promises of increased property values and more potential shoppers once the light rail route is complete, the property-and-business owners were resolute in their opposition to the project. "It's just one more thing we have to fight to stay alive for our businesses," said Marcee Edwards, co-owner of Vintage Charm. Many said they'd already suffered through years of construction to beautify the area, and couldn't justify going through that process again. Others complained about potentially bringing more mass-transit riders, who they see as lower income, to the area. They wondered about who would ride the trains in summer and doubted the efficacy of a train system in a sprawling suburban market. Evidence that similar programs have proven successful in markets with stifling heat and sprawling communities, such as the Dallas metro area, was little consolation to these business owners, who expressed a desire for Mesa's Main Street to return to its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, and don't see light rail as part of that equation. Part of the planning process will continue with two public meetings, one in west Mesa Thursday, Aug. 23, and one in east Mesa on Aug. 30, to get your advice on what can be done. Sponsored by regional and local transit departments, the meetings will look specifically at what Mesa might have in place by the key date of 2015, when Mesa is projected to have fully implemented its high-capacity transit plan envisioned when voters passed Proposition 400 in the 2004 election. That's likely to mean a combination of rapid buses and light rail. But where those will go is an open question, and will be part of the discussions this week and next. Mesa is planning to beef up its bus system when light rail begins operating in December 2008. A rapid bus line will extend from the light-rail station at Sycamore Street east to Power Road and then south to Superstition Springs Center, with specially designed stations and green-light priority for the buses. The meetings this month are part of a two-year study of transit options between Dobson and Power roads, and University Drive and Baseline Road. Maricopa County voters approved a half-cent sales tax to fund light rail with the passage of Proposition 400. But in order to qualify for federal matching funds, to supplement the $250 million already guaranteed to Mesa to extend the 20-mile start line that ends at Sycamore Street, transportation officials must conduct a "New Starts Report," which will determine what new route brings the most new transit riders for those tax dollars. _____ To our Friends who live, work or play in the East Valley. Chandler experiments with special bus signals Edythe Jensen The Arizona Republic Aug. 23, 2007 11:14 AM Chandler is treating some buses like trains to keep them running on time. Mesa is watching. The city is the first in the Valley to build intersections with queue jumper lanes equipped with rail-style signals that let buses through ahead of other traffic. Mike Normand, acting assistant public works director, said three of the signalized lanes have gone in since last year along Arizona Avenue at Elliot, Warner and Ray roads. They were installed early as part of intersection reconstruction but were built in preparation for the city's first express bus route along Arizona Avenueset to start in 2010. Others are planned in high transit corridors such as Chandler Boulevard, said city spokeswoman Jane Poston. Transportation engineer Mike Mah came up with the idea after seeing how they will work for the Valley's light rail system set to begin operations next year and in a few cities outside Arizona. The bus lanes are between those that carry through traffic and right turn lanes. They also serve as bicycle lanes and are labeled "only bike bus" on the asphalt. To prevent motorists' confusion, signals posted above the special lanes have white lights - not green, yellow and red. A vertical white light means "go" and a horizontal one "stop," Mah said. Mike James, deputy transportation director for Mesa, said his city is considering queue jumper lanes like Chandler's on Main Street where an express bus line will run from the end of the light rail line east of Dobson Road to Power Road. Mesa is studying whether the train-style lanes and signals will be compatible with existing lights and roads, he said. Most other Valley cities are putting their express buses on freeways and not considering special lanes and signals, said Matthew Heil, spokesman for Valley Metro, which operates bus service through most Valley cities. Regular bus routes wouldn't benefit from the special treatment, he said, because they stop too frequently. Express routes are known for their limited stops and faster service. Chandler is also looking at neighborhood circulator bus routes similar to popular ones in Tempe and Ahwatukee FoothillsNormand said. "Right now they're not funded, but there has been a lot of interest from the community based on the success of the ALEX (Ahwatukee Local Explorer) system," he said. Funding is expected in the next two or three years and Chandler has identified eight potential areas for the service. Transportation plan hearings over the next year will determine public support and priorities for the circulator buses, Normand said.