Environmental Assessment

coalition of local business and property owners advocating for enhancements to the MillAvenue District and Downtown Tempe, adopted a resolution endorsing the TempeStreetcar as the preferred option.The Build Alternative for the original Tempe Streetcar project located the streetcar onMill Avenue between Downtown Tempe and Southern Avenue. However, after furtherconsultation with FTA, and at the request of the City of Tempe Council, Valley Metroand City of Tempe staff reevaluated the location of the project to capitalize on emerginggrowth and development concentrating in the downtown core and ASU campus area.Revised population and employment forecasts provided by MAG demonstratepopulation and employment growth in the immediate future in these areas. In the timesince the Build Alternative was adopted, several high-rise developments have beenconstructed for residential and commercial office/retail space in Downtown Tempe andalong the Apache Boulevard and Rio Salado Parkway corridors. Additionally, eight newdevelopments are currently under construction and another nine are planned thattogether will bring an additional 7.6 million square feet of new office, residential, retailand hotel space to the proposed project’s study area. Furthermore, ASU, a year-roundacademic institution, boasts the largest student enrollment of all public universitiesacross the country with over 50,000 students at its Tempe campus alone, and thisnumber is expected to grow to 60,000 by 2020. Recognizing the significant mobilityimprovements that could be realized by providing high-capacity transit service along MillAvenue linking several major regional trip generators and attractions, Valley Metro andCity of Tempe staff modified the streetcar route to serve the emerging growth along theRio Salado Parkway and Apache Boulevard corridors in addition to serving DowntownTempe.The Build Alternative is widely seen as beneficial to economic development anddowntown redevelopment. The major benefits of the proposed Build Alternative include:• Increasing transit ridership in the corridor• Connecting residents to neighborhood services• Encouraging redevelopment of underutilized parcels• Encouraging reinvestment in neighborhoods• Promoting livable city and green initiatives• Providing a seamless connection to LRT• Supporting ASU travel demand• Improving service for special eventsES.5 WOULD THERE BE ANY ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS?This EA compares the impacts of the No-Build and Build Alternatives in 2035. Thetechnical studies summarized in Chapter 3 of the EA, and noted in Table ES-2 below,have determined that, with implementation of the proposed mitigation measures whereneeded, the Build Alternative would generally not result in any adverse impacts.Environmental Assessment Page ES-8 July 2015Tempe Streetcar