Light rail
Mesa does hope, however, for a significant economic impact in the form of new development along the route.
It has seen the beginnings of that renaissance in the form of new colleges and housing projects near existing and future light-rail tracks. Other large projects, such as the Barry and Peggy Goldwater Library and Archives and a world-class downtown concert hall, are either planned or contemplated.
The Federal Transit Administration weighed more than 800 pages of technical findings and public comments before issuing its decision. Within that pile of verbiage, the comments about Hambone’s sign may be unique in all of federal literature.
They came in the middle of an analysis that found little historical significance in most of the commercial buildings along the 1.9-mile extension route. Some — including the Hambone sign — were found to have some local, albeit not national, import.
“This sign is characteristic of Modernist Movement signs that were prevalent in the later postwar years along Main Street,” the report says. “The neon-lit sign is mounted on a steel pole and features a beerguzzling pig with a staggered, inebriated text display.”
The sign, however, will not be affected by the coming of light rail, the report said.
Nine commercial buildings and a motel sign along the route also were deemed eligible for historic registry “at a local level of significance,” reflecting the emergence of midcentury auto culture and the expansion of the city beyond its original downtown.
The extension to Gilbert Road will be Mesa’s third lightrail leg.
The first opened with the rest of the Valley’s 20-mile “starter” line in December 2008.
Work is under way on the next 3.1 miles, which will stretch the tracks from the Sycamore/Main station through downtown to the temple and Pioneer Park. Completion is scheduled for late 2015.
Much of Mesa’s downtown was torn up for rail construction through the summer, but crews cleared out in early October, leaving the commercial district open for winter visitors and several upcoming festivals.
Construction of the Gilbert Road extension is now scheduled to begin in spring 2015, even before the downtown leg is completed. Heavy design work can now proceed, thanks to the federal clearance.
Mesa and Valley Metro officials had argued for years that Gilbert Road was a more logical terminus than the area just east of Mesa Drive. There, the trains could connect with numerous bus lines and be more accessible to a large pool of riders.
“License-plate surveys conducted periodically continue to demonstrate park-and-rider demand at the Sycamore ... station originate from ZIP codes in central and east Mesa, and the East Valley region collectively,” the report says. “The devel- opment of park-and-ride facilities at both the Mesa Drive and Gilbert Road stations will allow surrounding neighborhood residents and persons traveling from points east” to access light rail more easily.
From Gilbert Road and Main Street, future light-rail extensions could go either south on Gilbert to an existing transit corridor running to the east in the U.S. 60 right of way, or east on Main to Power Road and then south toward the Gateway area.
As much as Mesa and regional officials wanted the Gilbert Road extension, finding the $143 million to pay for it was a problem.
Mesa took care of that last year when it got the federal government to agree that federal money previously set aside for road projects that Mesa no longer wants could be used for light rail instead. The city will issue bonds that the federal government will repay over time with transportation grants.
Mesa has used that same method several times to speed up freeway construction, most recently with Arizona 24, approaching completion near Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.
Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said the project “was made possible through creative financing and a vision that connects light rail to a main thoroughfare (Gilbert Road) with easy access to both the Superstition and Red Mountain freeways (U.S. 60 and Loop 202). ... We are excited to see the project move forward.”