Getting Here, Getting Around

The automobile is still the main method of transportation in the Valley. The freeways are often jammed at rush hours, and a lack of reliable long-distance public transportation between communities forces many motorists to sit in traffic jams every morning and late afternoon. Unlike in some metro areas, there’s no commuter rail from the suburbs into the center commercial districts of Phoenix and Scottsdale. Sure, there are public bus routes, but few people with a comfortable car will pass up their own rides to wait in the heat at a bus stop.

High-occupancy vehicle carpool lanes help, and the Arizona Department of Transportation has worked to widen freeways to allow vehicles with two or more people to ease through the gauntlet of brake lights. Highway construction seems to be constant in the Phoenix area. With the expansion of the suburbs, ADOT recently expanded the Loop 202 in the Southeast Valley, linking Mesa with its neighboring suburbs of Gilbert and Chandler. The Loop 303 project in the West Valley has also linked major freeways, and its full expansion is ongoing.

The introduction of the Valley Metro light rail line in 2008 added a whole new dimension to getting around. Suddenly, folks who live in downtown Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa found it easier to keep their cars parked in the cool of their garages. The first phase of the track, which will expand to other parts of the Valley in the future, runs from neighborhoods north of downtown Phoenix all the way to Main Street in Mesa through Arizona State University.

Critics said light rail was too little too late for a metro area where air pollution is far more serious than in other big cities, but it was a necessary step that has been well received by travelers. A new track will connect light rail to Sky Harbor International Airport, making it even easier to avoid the freeways. But if you don’t mind driving, the wide-open space of Valley highways and mountain-bounded state routes also makes for a pleasant trip between destinations.