Riding a bicycle from Phoenix to Mesa will be easier next year. Tempe has started construction on the final lengths of a bike path that will connect the three cities.
Tempe is working on two miles of bike and walking pathways that will run along the Rio Salado. It will connect to the city’s existing paths and will include a bike and pedestrian underpass beneath Priest Drive that will meet the Phoenix pathway to the west.
On the east side of Tempe, it will connect to Mesa’s pathway that will go to the Chicago Cubs spring training facility known as “Wrigleyville.”
“The Rio Salado Pathway system is one of the busiest bikeways in the region and we think that connecting to the other cities and doing things like these underpasses will help grow that ridership even more” said Eric Ewersen, a Tempe Transportation Planner.
He said the $4.5 million project will be completed in 2016 and most of the money is coming from federal grants.