Phoenix council approves $50M extension design plan for light rail
Apr 19, 2017, 6:10 PM | Updated: Apr 20, 2017, 11:21 am
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PHOENIX — The Phoenix City Council approved a budget Wednesday to spend $50 million on a design plan that will extend the light rail to the southern part of the city.
The request for the vote came from Valley Metro, the agency that operates the light rail. The money will now go to design and pre-construction work, including a traffic and business impact analysis.
In a statement, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton called the approval a “major step toward delivering [the] light rail to South Central Phoenix.”
“That means we are closer to more transient-oriented development projects coming to those neighborhoods, more jobs and more educational opportunities for residents,” Stanton said in the press release.
The design phase is expected to last about two years and will kick start a larger $704 million project that will extend the light rail from Central Avenue and Jefferson Street several miles south to Baseline Road.
The project is scheduled to be completed in 2023.
KTAR News’ Kathy Cline contributed to this report.