Frequent Questions

The project team has taken the time to compile some of the more frequent questions we receive during the course of discussions, e-mails and telephone contact with the community. We hope these will be helpful and if you have some you’d like to add, please click here to send them our way.

This project began as part of recurring discussion among stakeholders and Council that Arizona Avenue was an obstacle to the future development of the Downtown. It was entirely designed for automobiles with little thought to the needed of pedestrians or urban-style development. As part of a larger planning study, called the South Arizona Avenue Corridor Study, the consultant recommended rebuilding Arizona Avenue in a way that better balanced the needs of people AND cars. The ultimate goal of the study was to set a framework that would enable the redevelopment of the Corridor and attract new private investment.

In 2006, the Council adopted the South Arizona Avenue Corridor Study and authorized Staff to begin implementing its recommendations. One of the recommendations was to create an area plan that adopts the Study and the related land uses. The Area Plan went through a multitude of public and business discussions and input during the planning process, and Council ultimately adopted the Area Plan in January 2008. The primary goal of the study and the area plan was to link the two ends of Downtown (Historic and the 202) and create a unique regional center that would attract new development to the Corridor and position it for long term success.

In 2006, the South Arizona Avenue Bond Committee as well as the General Bond committee recommended funding the South Arizona Avenue related capital improvement projects in the amount of $60,170,000. A decision was made to spread these capital projects out over the related parks, streets and transportation, and water and wastewater bond questions, as noted on page 3 of the May 2007 bond pamphlet. The “Purpose of Election” language states “Included in the parks, streets and transportation, water and wastewater projects are improvements to the south Arizona Avenue Corridor for the purpose of street relocation, repaving, utility upgrades and relocation, and street and pedestrian circulation improvements.” All related bond questions were approved by the City of Chandler voters at that time.

While this project 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. The asphalt pavement on the outside lanes that now serves as right turn lanes 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.

There seems to be some confusion about the prior construction on Arizona Avenue, so provided below is a timeline of previous construction, with the background and reasoning for each:

In 2002, the City upgraded several major utility lines from Chandler Blvd to Frye Road along Arizona Avenue (Sanitary Sewer and Water Line, plus stub outs to existing Storm Sewer line to accommodate future development). The work was so extensive that the pavement had to be replaced and in some cases so did the sidewalk on the west side of Az. Ave. This project did not widen Arizona Avenue, the curb line was restored to its prior location. The new sewer and water line work completed in 2002 will enable the proposed South Arizona Avenue project to be accomplished in a shorter time frame.

In 2005, the Chandler Boulevard intersection widening project was undertaken with the primary focus on widening Chandler Boulevard to six lanes from four between Nebraska Street on the west to Colorado Street on the east. The work done on Arizona Avenue south of Chandler Boulevard was:

1) a new 10-foot landscaped median constructed between Chandler Blvd and Buffalo Street (it should be noted that almost all of this median will stay intact with the proposed South Arizona Avenue four-lane concept approved by Council in June);
2) a new northbound right turn lane at Chandler Blvd; and
3) a new southbound bus bay on the west side of Az. Ave. just south of Chandler Blvd and a southbound right turn lane at Buffalo Street.

This area experienced widening to accommodate the bus bay, dedicated right turn lane, and new 10-foot landscaped median. No widening occurred south of Buffalo street.

The alignment approved by Council June 22 will remove the right turn lanes and relocate the bus bay to accommodate the new Bus Rapid Transit station planned for the southwest corner of Arizona Avenue and Chandler Boulevard.

On the contrary, in terms of the City getting the most competitive pricing possible for a construction project, there is no better time. Right now, with the lull in residential and private construction, contractors are working harder than ever to provide good, quality construction projects at a competitive price. In fact, recent projects have been coming in 10-30% lower than just a year ago.

What about the businesses and residents in the area, has anyone asked or involved them in the discussions?

The project team has worked diligently to communicate on an ongoing basis with the businesses, residents and property owners in the project area (Pecos to Chandler; Delaware to Palm), and there have been many individual and group meetings to discuss options and concepts. The original kickoff meeting had over 150 people in attendance. In addition, the Downtown Chandler Community Partnership (DCCP), the Chandler Chamber of Commerce, and all major property owners along the proposed improvement have voiced support for the project. To ensure that businesses north of the project area were invited to provide input, specific meetings were held with those businesses north of the project area (to Ray Road) to gather their input. The recommendations provided to the City Council in late June were the results of those meetings.

The intent of the project is to slow traffic down through the improvement area (Chandler Boulevard to Frye Road), which arguably, is the goal of a downtown experience. According to recent traffic modeling, traffic counts will be reduced by approximately 4,000 vehicles (ADT or average daily traffic). By comparison, this is the volume of cars on a typical residential street.

It is a myth that all of the 4,000 cars will reroute to Alma School. In reality, this reduced traffic will re-route in a couple of ways; 1) internally in the project area…..for example, those that wish to visit the new City Hall will access the parking garage off Frye Road; or 2) to nearby major arterials, such as McQueen or Alma School or Chandler Boulevard. The studies show that people will find the quickest route to their destination, which in some cases may even be east or west bound. It’s important to note that much of this reduction of traffic will be those that are “passing through” the downtown area, or in many cases, the large truck traffic may re-route to prevent having to slow down. The City’s traffic engineer is satisfied that rebuilt Arizona Avenue can handle expected volumes for at least the next 20 years.

While the Loop 202 and other maps, etc., show the span of Arizona Avenue, from Chandler Boulevard to Frye Road, as part of SR87, the roadway is actually owned, maintained, and managed by the City of Chandler. Discussions with ADOT engineers confirmed this and that it is not officially considered a State Highway. It might be noted that regardless of any “designation”, there are other highways that have been reconfigured to accommodate local municipalities, so this is not unheard of, and certainly won’t prevent the improvements from taking place.

Light rail is still, more than likely, many years out for the City of Chandler. That being said, the four-lane concept approved by the City Council in the June meeting is the best configuration in terms of planning for light rail, and would require the least amount of changes/disruptions compared to the two-lane configuration.

"Frequent Questions"