Today, the Phoenix City Council is set to vote on a measure that could advance an extension of the light rail to the West Valley — or quietly delay the next phase of Phoenix’s young metro system by a decade or more.
The planned vote on the Capitol extension project — which has been dubbed CAPEX for short — will not only determine where the light rail goes and doesn't, it'll “determine the legacy of the mayor and council on the light rail” as Will Greene of the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project put it.
Before the council are two options: They can either choose one of three routes that will extend the light rail past the Capitol Mall and down the middle of the I-10 West to the Desert Sky Transit Center at 79th Avenue and Thomas Road, or they can pull back and reevaluate possible next steps.
It looks like the council is leaning toward the latter.
And it seems some of the councilmembers already have a new route in mind.
Since last November, Valley Metro has been conducting a survey to gauge support and concerns about the CAPEX. Meanwhile, the office of Councilwoman Betty Guardado has been distributing flyers that provide a link to the survey and encourage people to support an alternative line traveling west along Indian School Road — through her district.
Guardado’s office did not respond to questions from us, including whether the funding for the flyers came from taxpayer dollars.
“This Maryvale light rail extension along Indian School Road is a possible future extension alternative to the CAPEX and I-10 West route,” the flyer says. “You can add comments if you want the Maryvale light rail extension along Indian School Road instead of the CAPEX and I-10 West.”
The survey, which ended yesterday, received more than 5,500 submissions as of Jan. 16, and it showed a 50-50 split between moving forward with CAPEX or scrapping it.
The problem is it’s not so simple to just pick a new route.
The CAPEX project — which would rely on federal funds for more than a third of financing — has been in the pipeline for about 20 years. Pulling out now would mean that the city steps out of line for funding from the Federal Transit Administration.
The city has spent tens of millions of dollars studying its viability, environmental impacts, applying for funding and understanding community perspectives. If the council kills the planned CAPEX line, it would have to do all of this again — and several experts, including Greene, say the earliest a new line could be ready is 2039. They say that’s the best case scenario, if all goes right (it usually doesn’t) and the process is expedited.
“We would basically be back at square one,” Councilwoman Anna Hernandez told us of a vote to ditch the CAPEX project. “I would urge my colleagues to really look at what these communities are saying and the risks that we’re talking about if we do not continue with the voter-approved Capitol extension.”
The CAPEX project (which would run through Hernandez’s district) was approved in 2015 by Phoenix voters in Proposition 104, a major piece of the city’s transportation plan.
Hernandez is even worried that killing the CAPEX project could spell doom for the future of the light rail system.
“I’m gravely concerned that if we step out of project development and don’t continue with the Capitol extension, that actually jeopardizes our entire opportunity to move forward with any light rail in Phoenix,” she said. “I don’t know of any other city that has gotten to the point where we are with the Capitol extension and stepped out of line and were rewarded after re-entering for a new project. We are really rolling the dice on that.”
Valley Metro Public Information Officer Juliana Vasquez-Keating told us that either way, the agency “will work closely with the City of Phoenix to capture their direction and priorities moving forward.”
Sources close to the decision say that Mayor Kate Gallego is whipping votes for the council to scrap the CAPEX project.
And her spokesman, Todd Zubatkin, confirmed that she's in favor of moving the next light rail extension to Indian School. He told us that setting aside the CAPEX project would be “the most responsible thing” the council can do, considering the opposition from Republicans in the Legislature.
Zubatkin refuted the idea that if the council kills CAPEX, that it probably won't finish another line of track until 2039. But he didn't provide a timeline on when the mayor believes a new light rail extension could be completed — saying only that the question will be answered at today’s meeting.
“A lot of people are scratching their heads because Mayor Gallego has been a long-time champion of light rail,” Greene noted. “She chaired MovePHX that got Prop 104 passed. She was instrumental and has been. We’re hoping to see that continue.”
As for the potential Indian School route, there is plenty of concern from those who would be immediately affected by it — making it a potentially sticky political decision. At least 486 business owners and residents along Indian School Road have added their names to a petition urging the council not to consider the route.
Republican Sen. John Kavanagh, an opponent of light rail who wants officials to consider developing other transit options, recently introduced Senate Bill 1332. It would prohibit the Arizona Department of Transportation from collaborating on light rail projects before conducting an economic study of the transit method and comparing it to other potential options, like fleets of electric buses.
“It’s gonna kill a lot of businesses,” he told us. “If buses and autonomous vans are better and cheaper, why do that?”
The Fountain Hills senator surprised us as an unlikely climate warrior when he claimed light rail creates more pollution compared to electric buses and vans “when you take into account the massive carbon footprint that is incurred by building the equipment.”
Last month, Speaker of the House Steve Montenegro and Senate President Warren Petersen wrote a letter urging Gallego and the councilmembers not to go ahead with any more light rail extensions. Two days later, Kavanagh and GOP Rep. David Livingston did the same, but added if the city does move forward with an extension, the “least objectionable option” was the one that would go south of the Capitol and then go north along Interstate 17.
As Zubatkin mentioned, the opposition from Republicans at the Legislature is the ostensible boogeyman causing the council to back down from the project. But Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs — the Veto Queen — has already pledged to block legislative Republicans from imposing their will on Phoenix.
“The Council’s decision should not be made based upon fear that proceeding with CAPEX will result in prohibitive State legislation,” wrote Ben Henderson, the director of the Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting. “Governor Hobbs has demonstrated time and again that she will not allow legislators from districts that have no light rail presence whatsoever to frustrate the voters’ will for light rail to extend to the Capitol. There is no reason to believe she would change course now.”
Councilmembers Jim Waring, Kevin Robinson and Kesha Hodge Washington did not respond to requests for comment on today’s vote — but the latter two were rumored to be on the fence. A spokesperson for Councilwoman Laura Pastor, who was expected to support CAPEX, declined to comment on her behalf.
Ahead of what may be one of the most consequential votes of the decade for light rail in Phoenix, most of the council is keeping quiet.
Another shutdown?: In the wake of shootings in Minneapolis, and with a deadline approaching to avoid a federal government shutdown, more U.S. Senate Democrats are saying they won’t support the funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, States Newsroom reports. Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego joined the “no” group over the weekend, and now five of the eight Democrats who voted with the GOP to end the shutdown in November say they won’t support the DHS funding bill. Their position is complicated by the fact that DHS oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is tasked with helping millions of people deal with a massive snow storm this week. And Arizonans depend on FEMA, too. U.S. Republican Reps. Eli Crane, Andy Biggs, Juan Ciscomani and David Schweikert are asking FEMA to reconsider its denial of $33 million for Gila and Mohave counties, where floods overwhelmed communities last year, Peter Aleshire reports for the Payson Roundup.
Damage control: Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes’ comments about the likelihood of masked federal agents having violent encounters with Arizona gun owners continue to stir the political pot. After her office’s law enforcement liaison resigned and police groups criticized her comments as reckless, Mayes put out a three-minute video directly addressing law enforcement officers, saying “you will always have my full support,” and calling out “right-wing media” for mischaracterizing what she said.
Rent is still too damn high: Maricopa County just recorded the third year in a row of 80,000-plus evictions, the Republic’s Catherine Reagor reports. Rents are going down, but $1,200 for a one-bedroom apartment in Phoenix is still more than most people can afford, which led landlords to file 84,833 eviction cases last year, a hair under the record of 87,130 set in 2024.
You can keep us from getting evicted from the news scene by pressing this button.
Heads in the clouds: Arizona lawmakers are considering whether the state should send drones into clouds to boost snowfall, Bob Christie reports for Capitol Media Services. Republican Rep. Gail Griffin’s “cloud-seeding” bill passed the committee she chairs two weeks ago, but it might run afoul of other GOP lawmakers who are trying to ban weather modification measures. However, Republican Sen. John Kavanagh said he’d exempt cloud-seeding from his proposal to ban using chemicals in the atmosphere to affect temperatures.
Frickin’ laser beams: Climate scientists with the Salt River Project and Arizona State University are strapping lasers onto aircraft to gauge the snowpack in Arizona’s mountains, which contributes to the state’s water supply, per KJZZ’s Alex Hager. Each flight can measure snow across 540 miles, much more than sensors fixed on the ground.
In other, other news
Queen Creek is making its first payment on a $244 million deal to use water from the Harquahala Valley (Janet Perez / Daily Independent) … Executives at Arizona Public Service gathered public feedback this week on a proposed 14% rate increase (David Caltabiano / AZFamily) … The legal battle over the Axon headquarters in Scottsdale now includes a new lawsuit claiming the city skipped due process when it signed a deal with the Taser manufacturer (Peter Valencia / AZFamily) … Anti-ICE protests continued in Arizona, this time in Chandler, where students from local schools joined in (Ronald J. Hansen / Republic) … And if you want a primer on ICE’s history, you don’t have to look back very far (Richard Ruelas / Republic).
Mesa officials screwed up more than 40,000 times.
But unfortunately, you still gotta pay that ticket.
KJZZ’s Ignacio Ventura brings us the story of how the city used the incorrect signature of a judge on tens of thousands of photo enforcement traffic citations in 2020 and 2021. Then they did it a few thousand more times in 2024.
Mesa officials apparently had no idea they were doing it until they got public records requests from citizens and a state lawmaker. Go muckrakers!
However, even though the city screwed up tens of thousands of times, drivers who got nabbed by photo enforcement cameras for speeding once won’t be able to get a refund on their tickets.
City officials say the judge’s signature wasn’t necessary, so all tickets were valid.