Downtown Phoenix’s Central Station Transit redevelopment, as well as other roadway improvements, took center stage at a city subcommittee meeting Tuesday morning.
Transit Depot
The Central Avenue Transportation depot is being redeveloped by Electric Red Ventures L.L.C., a subsidiary of Houston-based Medistar Healthcare Connections Corporation. Electric Red Ventures L.L.C. will convert the 2.56 acre depot into two multi-use high-rises with apartments, business and retail space, in addition to the transit center’s light rail and bus stops.
The redevelopment plan was approved by the subcommittee and now awaits City Council authorization to enter leases and agreements to move the project closer to construction.
According to a representative from Electric Red Ventures L.L.C., the development will be comprised of two towers.
The first tower will go above the depot, with the top 30 stories housing 300 apartments, a hotel underneath those, and 35,000 square feet of office space with a light rail and bus stops depot residing on the ground floor underneath.
The second tower will be for the offices currently residing on the site grounds and will incorporate student housing above it.
City Council will vote to approve ground and lease agreement authorization later in April.
Roadway Improvements
The subcommittee then proceeded to discuss possible improvements to Third Street made by the Street Transportation Department.
These improvements would involve converting Third Street from a one-way to a two-way road and improving the sidewalks and crosswalks.
Another improvement discussed was installing protected bike lanes, in which a concrete median separates the road from the bike lane to keep cars from a possible collision with a bike. This type of bike lane would be the first of its kind in Phoenix.
The improvement plan also calls to establish a railroad quiet zone for downtown. A railroad quiet zone involves a railroad crossing gate that would alert drivers with flashing lights telling them a train is coming so the conductor would not have to blow the whistle or horn.
These improvements would also accommodate for traffic before and after events at downtown facilities while maintaining on-street parking and implementing more efficient pick-up and drop-off zones.
There are two phases for this project. The first phase would convert the road from Lincoln Street to the light rail crossing on Jefferson Street into two lanes going southbound with one northbound lane and street parking to the west of the road. This phase would also implement protected bike lanes and improved sidewalks.
The second phase would include improvements from phase one from the light rail crossing to Washington Street.
There is not a set timeframe for this project.
Contact the reporter at smedwar7@asu.edu.
Sara Edwards was the executive editor of Downtown Devil. She is a graduate student at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Sara has additional bylines in Phoenix New Times, West Valley View, L.A. Downtown News and Boardwalk Times.
Sara is also the co-secretary for the Multicultural Student Journalists Coalition.
