Scottsdale riders to decide where trolleys should travel
Jane Larson
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 11, 2007 07:35 AM

SCOTTSDALE - The city is proposing three new trolley routes for south Scottsdale, and residents will get their say at two upcoming open houses.

Two of the three proposed routes have grocery stores along the way, which have been popular requests from area residents.

Two of the three also go west of Scottsdale Road to the Paiute Neighborhood Center, which offers after-school activities, senior services and a variety of other programs.

One route would connect with Tempe’s Orbit, that city’s system of free neighborhood circulators that covers Arizona State University’s campus and other destinations.

All proposed routes would connect with the Loloma Station in downtown Scottsdale, where riders can catch the downtown trolley and fixed-route buses connecting to the entire Valley.

“We’re looking for input on what the public wants,” Scottsdale transportation planner John Kelley said of the open houses scheduled for Monday and Oct. 24.

Kelley said the city has heard support for all three routes. They include residents along Chaparral Road, in the new Optima condominiums near Scottsdale Fashion Square, and residents along Osborn, Scottsdale and Granite Reef roads and Roosevelt Street.

The new route is targeted to start the third week in January. It would cost the city an estimated $400,000 for the first six months.

The three proposals are:

. A 4.7-mile route that runs along Chaparral Road from Granite Reef Road to Scottsdale Road, then turns south on Goldwater Boulevard and west on Osborn Road to serve the Paiute center, 6535 E. Osborn Road.

It also would pass downtown restaurants, Fashion Square and a shopping center that includes a Safeway grocery store. It links to three fixed-route buses, including those that travel further east on Chaparral to Scottsdale Community College.

The route would provide Scottsdale’s only east-west transit service between Camelback Road on the south and Shea Boulevard on the north, Kelley said.

. A 3-mile route that runs along Osborn Road from Pima Road to the Paiute center.

This route passes a post office, Scottsdale Healthcare and Scottsdale Stadium. It also connects with five fixed-route bus lines and the pedestrian/bike path on Pima Road.

. A 4-mile route extension that would take the existing neighborhood trolley south on Granite Reef Road and west on Roosevelt Street. It would then go north on Scottsdale Road, east on McDowell Road, north on 74th Street, east on Oak Street and north on Miller Road.

It would pass a shopping center that includes a Bashas’ grocery store; SkySong, the high-tech ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center; and Coronado High School.

It also would connect with the Tempe Orbit line at Scottsdale Road and Roosevelt Street and with four fixed-route lines.

The existing neighborhood trolley, officially called the Neighborhood Connector, runs every 20 minutes from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week. A downtown trolley, aimed at tourists in the shopping and arts districts, runs every 10 minutes from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

The existing trolley service, including fuel, cost Scottsdale about $2 million last fiscal year.