Glendale committee studies best way to bring light rail into downtown among resident fears

A committee recommendation on light-rail routes into downtown Glendale is six weeks away and light-rail trains are a decade away, but there are already fears that the transit project could steamroll historic neighborhoods.

Lifelong Glendale resident Bobby Casares has been sounding the alarm that a light-rail route along Lamar Road, one block south of Glendale Avenue, would destroy a barrio that has been home to generations of Hispanic families. Other routes north of Glendale Avenue would go through neighborhoods with historic homes and the Glendale Landmark Middle School, he said.

"Why would you want to disrupt the downtown businesses and families in the barrio," Casares said.

No decisions have been made on light-rail routes into downtown Glendale. But a 47-member committee — the Downtown Glendale Community Working Group — has been studying the best way to thread light rail into downtown with as little disruption as possible.

The group has been meeting since June and is expected to present its recommendations of the $543 million project to the Glendale City Council at the end of October.

Glendale City Councilman Jaime Aldama, whose district includes downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods, said the council has not taken any votes on the light-rail routes.

He invited residents to attend a public meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at Isaac Imes Elementary School, 6625 N. 56th Ave., to learn about the transit corridor study and express their opinions about the project. Valley Metro and city staff will present the latest information on the study.

Casares said he and others from the neighborhood south of downtown plan to attend to protect their homes, businesses and churches.

The logical light-rail route for Glendale would be Camelback Road to 91st Avenue and then north to University of Phoenix Stadium and the Westgate Entertainment District, he said.

But funding is only available to build the light rail into downtown.

The 23-mile Valley Metro system extends from 19th and Montebello avenues to downtown Phoenix and east to Tempe and Mesa.The 19th Avenue route will extend another three miles to Dunlap Avenue by early next year.

Glendale's transit has been limited to buses and the city is making modest improvements for those riders. A $617,000 project is underway at Arrowhead Towne Center to improve the transit center with shaded bus shelters and passenger amenities, including Wi-Fi and electrical outlets to charge cellphones. Those should be ready by November.

The Downtown Glendale Working Group is considering bus rapid transit along Glendale Avenue as an alternative to light rail.

But members of the group say a consensus has emerged in support of light rail.

"You build (light rail) and you pray that it encourages private development," said the Rev. David Clark, a member of the transit group. "That's what's happened on other legs of the light rail."

Clark, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church for 24 years, said potential light-rail routes north of Glendale Avenue could affect his congregation of more than 700 members.

A loop route that includes Palmaire and Myrtle avenues would run on both sides of the church and its school.

Myrtle is too narrow for light rail, while Palmaire is wider and would be better suited for the tracks, Clark said.

Glenn Drive, one street north of Glendale Avenue, is another alternative route and it does not have homes along it, he said.

Group member Yvonne Knaack, a former city councilwoman, said there have been discussions of running the light rail along Glendale Avenue as far west as 51st Avenue or 55th Avenue before it would veer off to the north or south.

She said she prefers Glenn Drive if the route is north of Glendale Avenue or to the south along Lamar, which could help revitalize the industrial area along that road.

"But I'm just one of 47 members" of a diverse group, she said.

It's important to find out what the residents want, said Knaack, adding that "we don't want to bulldoze neighborhoods."

The light-rail routes west from Phoenix could come straight out Glendale Avenue or along Camelback Road past Grand Canyon University before turning north on 43rd or 51st avenues and then west into downtown Glendale. Another route has been considered along Grand Avenue.