The Phoenix City Council voted 6 to 2 in favor of proceeding with the two-lane configuration of the controversial South Central Light Rail extension, thus saving the entire project, at a special City Council session Wednesday.
Vice Mayor Jim Waring and District 6 Councilman Sal DiCiccio were the only “no” votes in a dispute that began as a debate over traffic lanes and eventually became a fight over the train’s mere existence in South Phoenix.
Both pro- and anti-light rail advocates packed the City Council chambers and the overflow room downstairs, giving over two hours of testimony and heated debate.
“I came here and voted for the light rail,” Perry Ealim, a longtime resident, told the council, citing earlier votes that approved the extension as early as 2014. “We’re here today to talk about disavowing the vote of the people, the voice of the people – the most cherished part of our freedom.”
The dispute about the extension began in early 2018. Business owners in South Phoenix increasingly voiced concern that the city had not properly telegraphed the two-lane decrease the project would entail.
RELATED South Phoenix business owners oppose light rail at council meeting
This prompted City Council in June to request six community-wide meetings to inform residents and an analysis by Valley Metro into the possibility of preserving a four lane configuration.
The results presented to the council painted a grim picture for those in favor of preserving four lanes: the configuration would slow traffic by 40 percent, decrease tree coverage by 55 percent, slash bike lanes and decrease the speed limit, according to Valley Metro’s analysis.
But the biggest hurdle of redesigning the 5.5 miles of extension from downtown Phoenix to Baseline Road would be the deadline for federal funding in November. Valley Metro estimated that the redesign would add $7 million to the project and take at least four months, well past the national deadline.
In response, some anti-light rail groups moved from a four-lane-only stance to opposing the light rail entirely. Regardless, all attendees at the council meeting were given comment cards for two lanes, four lanes or no train at all, although very few were in favor of four lanes. The community meetings conducted showed a majority in favor of two lanes as well.
The council members who ultimately voted against the extension gave strong words of warning and said the council should focus on things like maintaining the city’s road system.
“I hate the light rail. I think it’s a waste of resources,” Waring said. “I think we should kill it. I think this is a disastrous mistake and we will be paying for this for decades to come.”
Other councilmembers had a more optimistic outlook.
“I don’t believe that this is a city where we can either have a world-class transit system or good roads,” District 5 Councilmember Vania Guevara said. “These things aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, they’re not exclusive at all.”
Nicholas Sarwark, a libertarian candidate for Phoenix mayor, spoke against the extension at the council meeting.
“There’s going to be winners and losers: Valley Metro and the contractors that work on it will win, and the businesses that have already built this community will lose,” he told council. “The people supporting light rail are willing to step over the corpses of those businesses to get that federal grant money, and that’s why this whole project needs to stop.”
Talonya Adams, a resident born in South Phoenix, instead touted the government funding as a major asset.
She said the government funding was slated for Phoenix, one of seven cities selected, in an effort to produce ”upward mobility.”
“It was about equity,” she said. “It was about doing things, not just to leave a train, but to cure generational poverty.”
Reporter Gaby Khalaj contributed to this article.
Contact the reporter at Rebecca.Spiess@asu.edu.
