The Mesa-Tempe streetcar expansion will get nearly $16 million in federal funding, a financial lifeline for the project that was left without any funding after being cut from a regional transportation program last year.
U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton announced the funding deal on Tuesday. The roughly $16 million in cash is coming from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, a multibillion-dollar federal program that was passed in 2022 with the goal of shoring up and expanding the country's infrastructure, including everything from water systems to roadwork.
The streetcar currently only runs inside of Tempe on a 3-mile track and provides residents with about 42,000 rides each month as of last year. Tempe’s transit manager Sam Stevenson said the existing trolley-style system serves more passengers per mile than any other transit service in Tempe.
Officials from both Tempe and Mesa have long insisted that a more than 4-mile extension of the track into Mesa is needed for everything from economic development to environmental conservation.
It would expand the end of the Tempe track from around Rio Salado Parkway and North Priest Drive, to West Main Street and South Dobson Road in Mesa.
Funding for that plan imploded last summer when Arizona lawmakers cut all major transit projects from the expansion plan for Proposition 400, a voter-approved initiative that has used a half-cent sales tax in Maricopa.
The news sales tax extension proposal, called Proposition 479, did not include funding for the expansion of the streetcar. Voters are slated to vote on the initiative sometime next year.
But the new $16 million federal grant reignited hopes that the project may actually move forward, according to Tempe Mayor Corey Woods.
"We've been long having conversations about extending the streetcar eastbound going to Mesa, to create a truly regional streetcar system," Woods said. "Without (this) funding, the extension would not have been possible."
It's still a drop in the bucket compared to the kind of funding that's needed to complete expansion — the project was estimated to cost more than $400 million when Prop. 400 funding was cut last year, meaning the new federal grant will probably cover less than 4% of the total project cost.
Stanton's press release said the money "will be used to complete design and environmental work for the project," so the grant is essentially providing start-up funds to get the detailed planning started in hopes of future funding to actually complete the expansion.
“This initial investment is recognition of the streetcar’s potential to boost economic development in Mesa, just as it has in Tempe,” Stanton said in his press release.
Mesa Mayor John Giles echoed the idea that the streetcar expansion is crucial to the economic development of the state's third largest city.
"(It's) a transformative investment in our community’s future, readying the area for anticipated population growth and increased employment," Giles said. "(The expansion) will not only enhance connectivity between Tempe and Mesa but also provide vital high-capacity transit options for historically underserved areas."
Mesa Vice Mayor Francisco Heredia, who is the incoming chair of Valley Metro Rail, envisions the entire street car to be largely federally funded since it no longer has Prop 479 money.
"This project will be heavily funded by federal dollars. Most of the money will be ... federal money to construct this," Heredia said. He added that it could be five to six years before construction on a streetcar in Mesa happen.
The vice mayor added that Mesa expects to finalize it's transit development study this summer. That analysis will provide the cities more grant opportunities to fund the street car.
There is still no solid date for the streetcar expansion to begin construction. Both cities will have to secure hundreds of millions more dollars in funds to move the project forward, depending on how the planning process shakes out.
Local leaders remain determined to see the project through, however.
"The (expansion) will boost transportation options, reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality and elevate the overall quality of life," said TK. "(The federal) grant is a critical investment to move this project forward."