KTAR Radio, 6/20/18:
Phoenix City Council votes to look at other designs for light-rail expansion
The City Council voted Wednesday to consider alternative designs for the proposed light-rail expansion in south-central Phoenix.
This is the latest.
Really, it's hard to imagine what alternatives could work here. If the main drag, in this case South Central Avenue, is too narrow, then a simple surface light rail line might not be the best alternative. Besides the lost street capacity, there also becomes an issue with drivers fouling the rail right of way, even when trying to get out of the way of emergency vehicles. Now possible alternatives could be to run in a subway, elevated tracks, or even on another nearby street. The first two would be far costlier than the current surface proposal, while the last would highly diminish the potential ridership that would patronize those businesses and take cars off Central Avenue. Contemporary planning may be the victim here of poor planning way back when things were initially built.
While I always say that a minimum of technologies would work best, this narrow situation may lend itself to running streetcars rather than light rail; this way the right of way can be maintained while also providing rail transit in the same corridor. It would be a slower rail trip for sure, but it may be the only way to make everyone happy. Doing Streetcar would not be new to Valley Metro, as they are going to open such a line in neighboring Tempe next year. So the two, while not connected, could share rolling stock.