Valley Metro said it wants community input to help shape the direction of the west Phoenix light rail expansion.
In January, the Phoenix City Council voted to move the light rail expansion away from the state Capitol and instead focus efforts down Indian School Road.
The proposed 10-mile extension would go down Indian School Road to 75th Avenue before turning south and terminating at the Desert Sky Transit Center, at 79th Avenue and Thomas Road.
Valley Metro and Phoenix are hosting an open house to hear community feedback, answer questions and address concerns about the west Phoenix expansion.
“Community input is such a key component in this whole design process with the light rail extension, so we want to get out to the community early and often to hear their thoughts,” said Juliana Vasquez-Keating, a spokesperson for Valley Metro.
Vazquez-Keating said the event will be informal, and staff will not be giving a presentation. Instead, there will be several stations where people can stop by and ask questions to project staff from Phoenix and Valley Metro.
“It's been a couple years since we've been out to the public on this expansion specifically,” Vazquez-Keating said. “So we want to just reintroduce it to the public, hear what their concerns, or you know, their questions might be, so that can shape our future engagement, our planning and design process.”
Part of the project the community can help shape is where the new line will junction with the existing network.
Vazquez-Keating said they are still considering how the West extension will connect into the B-line.
“One of the questions we really want to hear from the public is would you prefer that it connects to the B-line from 19th Avenue and Camelback or Indian School and Central Ave."
Vazquez-Keating said the transit company and the city want to hear from business owners who might be affected by the extension.
Several business owners expressed their concerns to the City Council in January over how light rail construction on Indian School road could hurt their profits or put them out of business.
“We want to hear from those businesses,” Vazquez-Keating said. “How can we make this process easier for you and your business? How can we make it the least impactful?”
During the South Central extension, the city and Valley Metro used a small business assistance program to help businesses who struggled from loss of traffic or blocked driveways.
The open house is being held 6-8 p.m. June 24 at the Maryvale High School Cafeteria.
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