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At At the December 10th
City Council meeting, the Chandler City Council approved the
construction of Arizona Avenue, from Frye Road to Chandler Boulevard.
This construction is scheduled to begin in mid-March and take
approximately 7 1/2 months to complete.
During
construction, Arizona Avenue will remain open and should always have at
least one lane in each direction in the corridor, except for possible
coordinated weekend work when necessary in the intersection at Boston,
Buffalo, or Frye. In addition, there should always be left-turn access
into the Square either via Buffalo or Boston.
The
streetscape is provided in the rendering below - the first graphic, the "bird's eye" view,
is looking north on Arizona Avenue, from Frye Road, with the five story
building on the right (east) depicting the future City Hall. A
pedestrian view is also provided. The third graphic is the
intersection of Arizona Avenue and Boston Street, looking south.
BACKGROUND: The City of
Chandler City Council approved at the June 22nd Council Meeting a 4-lane
(two lanes in each direction) cross-section with left turn lanes at Frye
Road, Buffalo Street, Boston Street, and Chandler Boulevard, and bike
lanes. The current project area is from Frye Road to Chandler
Boulevard. At the December 10th Council Meeting, the Chandler City
Council approved the project for construction.
While this has
been categorized as a “narrowing” of Arizona Avenue, that wording may be
a bit inaccurate. Currently, the only area of Arizona Avenue (between
Frye Road and Chandler Boulevard – the project area) that has three thru
travel lanes is the northbound section from Boston Street to Chandler
Boulevard, and the southbound section from Chandler Boulevard to Buffalo
Street. Otherwise, the two lanes of traffic in both directions
already exists.
The southbound
curb lane is not a true “thru lane” from Buffalo Street to Boston
Street and is dedicated to right turns into the San Marcos Square at
Boston Street. Further southbound, the two lane configuration already
exists. For northbound travel, there are two thru lanes from Frye Road
to Boston Street, and the third lane of traffic for northbound travel is
picked up at Boston Street and continues north through Chandler
Boulevard.
That being
said, the main goal of the re-configuration of Arizona Avenue from Frye
Road to Chandler Boulevard is the emphasis on the pedestrian component.
This asphalt pavement on the outside lanes, now serving as right turn
lane, or sometimes parallel parking, south of Boston Street, can now
become usable pedestrian space. It can possibly include landscape,
street furnishings, on-street dining possibilities, etc., and becomes a
more intimate, pedestrian friendly area…….a downtown.
Both the
Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Chandler Community Partnership
supported this decision at the Council meeting, and the citizen-based
Transportation Commission also recommended approval. In addition, the
project team and City staff did not arrive at this decision lightly.
There were numerous meetings, both public and business-focused, and
every property owner and business owner had an opportunity, if not
several, to voice their opinions and provide input to make changes or
adjustments to the concepts. Over 1300 stakeholders are included in
mailings and there has been significant media attention as well. Should
you wish to be included in our stakeholder list, please
click here to send us an e-mail with your contact information.
Thank you for your interest in the South Arizona Avenue Improvements
Project!
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The slides below depict a rendering of Arizona Avenue, just
north of Frye Road, looking north.....from the existing view......to the
completion of the Arizona Avenue improvements.....to potential future
development. To download
this as a slideshow, click here.
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