Metro breaks ground on downtown Mesa rail extension

Metro broke ground Wednesday on a $200 million light rail extension into downtown Mesa as the project’s backers predicted it will transform the emerging area into a thriving urban core. Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said just having the 3.1-mile segment on the drawing board was instrumental in the city’s recent deals to bring three colleges to downtown. He expects the transit project will vastly transform the city within a decade. “Every great metro region in this world has options. That’s what light rail does,” Smith said. “It creates options for our residents — options for where they want to live, how they want to travel, how they get to work and how they are entertained. And we’ve seen all of that already in the 20-plus miles that exist.” The new segment will bring Metro service to Mesa Drive and add four stations. That should add about 10,000 passengers a day to the 42,000 who currently use it, said Metro CEO Steve Banta.

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