llluminated Tempe span to be icon for transit route

A light-rail bridge at Tempe Town Lake will start taking shape this week.

For construction junkies, the work is a great opportunity to watch 150-foot tall cranes lift steel trusses as long as 160 feet and weighing as much as 151,912 pounds.

But for drivers on their way to downtown Tempe, it won’t be as much fun. Rio Salado Parkway will close for nearly two weeks for safety reasons.

The work starts this morning.

Crews will start setting trusses in place, lifting them onto Y-shaped piers on the lake’s south shore. In the next two weeks, crews should complete the 540-foot approach to the lake’s south side. While nothing will go over the lake yet, spectators will get a taste of what’s next, said Daina Mann, spokeswoman for Valley Metro Rail.

"Anybody who is at the park or driving through that area is going to notice a big change,” Mann said.

The operation is so complex that crews will close Rio Salado Parkway 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. today through Thursday between Hardy Drive and Ash Avenue. The road will reopen for Arizona State University homecoming festivities this weekend. The road will close the same hours Oct. 31 through Nov. 5.

Later in November, crews will assemble the bridge over the lake. Workers will move pieces from the north shore.

Work will continue on the 1,500-foot bridge through August 2006. The $21.2 million bridge will feature fiber optic lights underneath that will come on at night and constantly change color. The illuminated bridge is considered an icon of the 20-mile, $1.3 billion Metro system.

"Think of how many people will see it flying into Sky Harbor and all the people on the freeway,” Mann said. “About 200,000 people go by there every day on the (Loop) 202 and it will be a very visible element of the rail system."

The rail line is scheduled to open in late 2008.

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By GARIN GROFF TRIBUNE CONTACT WRITER: (480) 898-5938 or ggroff@aztrib.com