Construction crews on the Tempe Streetcar project are preparing to perform what Valley Metro calls “an exciting but technically challenging part of construction”: Track tie-ins.
More than half of the streetcar’s track has been installed as attention turns toward the special trackwork that is required to allow streetcars operating on the new line to cross over the existing light-rail system.
The tie-ins will occur at two locations along the streetcar route, 3rd Street/Mill Avenue and 3rd Street/Ash Avenue. Crews recently completed track installation on Mill Avenue between University Drive and Rio Salado Parkway this summer.
Valley Metro said the construction plan involves many moving pieces due to the active light-rail track involved in the construction area. The project team determined single tracking would be the safest and most efficient means of completing the tie-ins following evaluation of several options for work plans based on safety, the ability to maintain traffic, construction phasing and customer impact.
“For the portion of the light-rail route that runs between the 50th St/Washington and Veterans Way/College Ave stations, both eastbound and westbound trains will take turns traveling along only one of the two available tracks, while the other track is undergoing the tie-in work,” said Valley Metro.
To accommodate the construction, light-rail trains will operate on 24-minute headways between Dec. 21, 2019 through Jan. 5, 2020.
The $192.4-million project broke ground in 2017 and will connect riders to Mill and Ash avenues in downtown Tempe, Rio Salado Parkway, Apache Boulevard and two light-rail stations. Valley Metro says the Tempe Streetcar will offer another transportation option in a high-demand transit corridor that includes downtown Tempe, Arizona State University, Marina Heights and the growing Rio Salado corridor, as well as some of Tempe’s oldest neighborhoods. The project was awarded a $75-million grant through the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grant program.
