By Gary Nekson | East Valley Tribune
Uncle Sam is shelling out nearly a million dollars to help Mesa lay the foundation for a west-side streetcar line.
Years will pass before Mesa residents hear the clang-clang-clang of a transportation system the city first considered more than a century ago. But planning has to start somewhere, and a $920,000 grant from the Federal Transit Administration will fuel the next stage of the process.
Jodi Sorrell, Mesa’s transit services director, said the grant is designed to help the city develop “transit-supportive policies” that will help it compete when the time comes to go fishing for the truly big bucks – the millions in federal money likely to be needed to actually build the streetcar line.
“This just puts us all in a better place to be competitive. I think that’s the key message,” Sorrell told the Tribune.
