TEMPE NEWS BRIEFS
What’s up in Tempe? A roundabout coming to Grove Parkway/Priest; city to honor exceptional youth in virtual ceremony; ADOT preserving native trees, plants in Tempe Broadway Curve project; city, Downtown Authority gain marketing efficiency: It’s all right here in this installment of Tempe News Briefs!
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Construction to convert the Grove Parkway/Priest Drive intersection into a roundabout begins April 5, when northbound Priest Drive from Grove Parkway to Todd Drive will be closed.
Bus Route 56 will be detoured. Access to all businesses will be maintained.
Roundabouts, circular intersections that move traffic counterclockwise around a center island and operate without a traffic signal, are known for their safety and efficiency benefits, traffic experts claim. Among them are reductions in collisions, maintenance costs and traffic delays.
The four-month Grove /Priest roundabout construction will include landscaping, streetlights and ADA bicycle and pedestrian improvements. It was included in the Tempe Vision Zero Action Plan, a data-driven traffic-safety policy.
More information: 602-264-4611 or tempe.gov/roundabouts.
City to honor extraordinary students in virtual YouthFest awards
Tempe will honor its most courageous, resilient and compassionate students at the virtual 2021 YouthFest Changemaker and Courage Awards, 5:30-7:30 p.m., April 5.
It will be available live on Tempe 11 and Facebook Live. A video will be available on Tempe’s You Tube channel the following day.
Eleven inspiring young people to be honored with Courage Awards have faced homelessness, heartache, financial hardship, family turmoil, illness, substance abuse and physical disabilities while managing virtual-learning obstacles and fears during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several additional young people will be recognized as Tempe Changemakers for their exemplary efforts in academics, athletics, arts, music, citizenship, community service and demonstration of social conscience.
Tempe Mayor Corey Woods will emcee the program, joined by City Council, city representatives, Tempe Diablos and school representatives.
Native plants on I-10’s Broadway Curve to be removed, maintained, replanted
Before reconstruction of Interstate 10 through the Broadway Curve in Tempe begins this summer, Arizona Department of Transportation is identifying native plants to preserve along the 11-mile project.
Crews are examining about 2,500 trees along I-10 from Interstate 17 to Loop 202 to identify state-protected plants, such as ocotillo, saguaro and barrel cactus, and native trees, including palo verde, mesquite and ironwood. Plants will be relocated into temporary nurseries so they can be transplanted when work is complete.
“Protecting the natural Arizona environment is an important part of our work,” said Robert Samour, senior deputy state engineer and leader of ADOT’s Major Projects Group. “There were more than 1,000 plants along the South Mountain Freeway that we maintained for more than three years and replanted after construction to preserve the plants and the beautiful landscape.”
The plants will be removed to make way for construction of freeway lanes and other improvements.
The Valley’s first urban-freeway reconstruction, to be complete by late 2024, includes:
- Widening I-10 to six general-purpose lanes and two HOV lanes east from 24th Street to U.S. 60/Superstition Freeway.
- Building collector-distributor roads around the curve from Baseline Road to 40th Street to separate local traffic from through traffic on I-10.
- Adding a general-purpose lane on I-10 south from U.S. 60 to Ray Road while keeping the HOV lane.
- Modifying I-10 connections at State Route 143, Broadway Road and U.S. 60 to improve traffic flow and safety.
- Adding two bridges for pedestrians and bicyclists over I-10 between Baseline and Broadway roads and improving the Sun Circle Trail crossing at Guadalupe Road.
More information: azdot.gov/i10BroadwayCurve.
Chamber, Downtown Authority combine marketing position
Downtown Tempe Authority and Tempe Chamber of Commerce hired Jazmine Reyes, formerly the downtown group’s sole creative-marketing manager, as their shared marketing coordinator, blending their marketing jobs into one position.
Reyes’ role is designed to maximize resources of both organizations, which is “one of the ways Tempe-based non-profits are pivoting in this unprecedented time,” according to an announcement.
At Downtown Tempe Authority, Reyes oversaw social media, strategized marketing campaigns and produced Festival of the Arts and Fantasy of Lights, among others.
Reyes graduated from Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business and received an MBA in marketing from Northcentral University.
Her new role will include elements of the Chamber’s marketing program, including website management, content creation, newsletter-campaign management and events.
