by Sam Jackson
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego revealed that the city will receive a $25 million grant to construct the long-proposed Rio Salado Bike/Pedestrian Bridge.
She joined Pete Buttigieg, U.S. secretary of transportation, and other community officials at the Rio Salado Audubon Center, according to a news release from the city. The funding comes from a Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant.
Gallego posted on Twitter to promote the news.
“Thanks to @SecretaryPete Buttigieg and @POTUS Joe Biden, we will have a new, $25 million bike/pedestrian bridge across Rio Salado,” she wrote. “Our federal partners are making our city better.”
The bridge over Rio Salado will “create impactful connectivity between south Phoenix and the city’s downtown region,” the news release said. The project will also include solar lighting upgrades in the area.
“Whether you walk, run, or roll: a new $25 million grant will build a bike/pedestrian bridge across Rio Salado, linking downtown and south Phoenix,” Gallego said in another post on Twitter. “Huge thanks to USDOT @SecretaryPete for celebrating with us today.” She also thanked Rep. Ruben Gallego and former Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton.
Buttigieg said the bridge will eliminate barriers between different neighborhoods in the community.
“The Rio Reimagined: Third Street Bicycle/Pedestrian Bridge project in Phoenix, Arizona, will receive $25 million in RAISE funding to connect a historically disconnected neighborhood to downtown Phoenix,” he said on Twitter. “This is just one of 160+ projects that we’re funding through the RAISE grant.”
“The bridge will provide residents without a motor vehicle … with a safe option to cross the Rio Salado and gain improved access to jobs, schools, services, and other opportunities,” according to the news release. The bridge will provide a connection to the South Central Light Rail Extension, which is still under construction, as well as “recreational and exercise options with its proximity to the trails within the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area.”
Congress allocated $2.2 billion in RAISE grants to fund projects “that have a significant local or regional transportation impact,” the news release said. The funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was passed by Congress in November 2021.
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Sam Jackson is a regular contributor to PHX Reporter.
Photo “Man Walking Across Pedestrian Bridge in a City” by Andrea Piacquadio.
$25mil for a bridge when Phx-Mesa Gateway can do an entire expansion project including a new terminal for the same cost? Outrageous.