Transportation Expansion Project

[5][6] Metropolitan areas that would benefit from the expansion voted to approve an increase of property taxes required for the build-out.

In November 1999, voters in affected municipalities approved two property-tax increases which partially funded the transit portion of the project.

The study recommended widening the freeway by several lanes, and suggested incorporating mass transit options into any future improvements.

The two agencies and DRCOG commissioned the Southeast Corridor Major Investment Study (MIS), which investigated solutions to the I-25/I-225 congestion problem.

The Federal Highway Administration and CDOT did not agree with this omission, and leaders of all four agencies thought that the MIS placed too much emphasis on transit.

Unlike the initial study, the scope included Core Infrastructure (Highway) improvements as well as Transit solutions.

It recommended expanding highway lanes up to 7 wide in each direction as well as adding light rail support throughout the corridor.

DRCOG adopted the recommendations of the 1997 Study which included the 19 miles (31 km) of double-track light rail and 13 stations with the track running next to or in the median of I-25 and I-225.

[16] Southeast Corridor Constructors, a joint venture between Omaha, Nebraska-based Kiewit Construction[17] and Pasadena, CA-based Parsons Transportation Group [18] won the design-build contract in May 2001.

Signed by all stakeholders, it established four primary goals: A Policy Committee was founded to provide input on policy-related issues and monitored project progress relative to the overall public agency decision-making process, and a Technical Committee focused on all planning, engineering and environmental issues and assisted in the development and refinement of alternatives.

[clarification needed] Committee members primarily consisted of elected and/or appointed policy/decision-making officials from the affected areas.

[12] After the adoption of the MIS, all four agencies in June 1998 signed a "partnering charter" that created a leadership team to identify and pursue the best multi-modal solutions.

The committees remained intact during the NEPA and preliminary engineering process, and monthly meetings were held to keep them involved.

Representatives from the Arizona Department of Transportation, the Maricopa Association of Governments and the Valley Metro Rail system in Phoenix observed T-REX.

Phoenix is in the early stages of a similar project on its Interstate 10 corridor, one that also involves expanding the highway and building more rail lines.

Public input did result in minor changes to the project, including light rail alignment and station locations.