Tempe is having two meetings this week for the public to view preliminary designs for a proposed bicycle and pedestrian bridge over railroad tracks south of Apache Boulevard.

The meetings will be Thursday, Sept. 14 – one by Zoom at noon and the other at 6 p.m. at the Escalante Multi-Generational Center, 2150 E. Orange St.

Tempe is looking to add a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad near Los Feliz Drive, just south of Apache Boulevard and north of Broadway Road.

The crossing eventually will connect to the Country Club Way Project south of the US 60 and the Smith Road Improvements Project north of Apache Boulevard, “creating a more comfortable and accessible seven-mile bicycle and pedestrian corridor,” city officials said in a release.

Once completed, the project will become the sixth BIKEiT route, Reflector. The Reflector BIKEiT route will have a direct connection to the light rail, Western Canal and Rio Salado multi-use paths, ASU Research Park, Smith Innovation Hub, Tempe Marketplace and neighborhoods, according to the release.
 
Funding for the preliminary design project is provided through the Maricopa Association of Governments Design Assistance grant program. Final design and construction funding remains unknown.

For more information on the Zoom meeting, or to comment online Sept. 14-28,  visit  www.tempe.gov/UPRRBikePedBridge