Tempe adopts master transportation plan

PHOENIX — The Tempe City Council has approved a plan that will influence aspects of the city’s development for the next quarter century.

Last Thursday, the council approved a voter-passed transportation plan that will shape the way people move around Tempe through 2040.

The Tempe Master Transportation Plan’s ultimate goal is to keep Tempe a “20-minute city,” according to Mayor Mark Mitchell.

“Tempe is a community that is truly multi-modal,” he said. “We consider ourselves a 20-minutes where you can walk, ride your bike, get in a car and commute, all within 20 minutes — any destination in our community within 20 minutes.”

The nearly 100-page plan set goals and projects for everything from bike lanes to street cars, and the light rail to pedestrian movement.

One of the things Mitchell said he is most looking forward to is a possible expansion of the Orbit bus service.

“We’re looking at studying the extension of our neighborhood Orbit system into the southern part of our city,” he said.

Mitchell said the Master Transportation Plan has short and long-term goals that will help keep Tempe’s transportation up to par with other development.

An example of the need to keep transportation efficient will be seen when the regional State Farm office complex open at Tempe Town Lake next year, Mitchell said.

“That’s going to add an additional up to 14,000 employees and we need to make sure that we have a transportation infrastructure in place for the future generations,” he said.

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