The meeting at Shea Middle school was packed last night. The meeting included city representatives from the following departments: Planning, Arts and culture, Neighborhood services, Parks, Streets, District 3 Office and District 2 Office.

The meeting was attended and facilitated by District 3 Councilman Gates and District Two, Vice Mayor Jim Waring.

Goals: gather input, share specific ideas, identify tasks, develop subcommittees.

Summary of Statements: Due to the bypass of traffic created by the SR51, businesses are not as supported as they once were. This lack of traffic has impacted local businesses and neighborhoods, the purpose of these meetings is to envision a new future for North 32nd Street. Community involvement at these meetings shows the council that the residents of our neighborhood want to invest in our community and support businesses in this area. We hope to start a business association within the corridor. Filling vacancies is our short term goal, a goal that has been helped with Alice Cooper’s the Rock, Jambo, the Original Breakfast Joint, At Home, and many others. The meeting was intended to focus on the long term goals helped to be developed by ASU and the Urban Land Institute. These groups have had in the data and development of our designs. Utilizing this input we have broken the corridor down into three different phases.
Phase One is from the SR51 to Sweetwater, Phase Two is from Sweetwater to Paradise, Phase Three is Paradise, North. They hope to have sub-committees brought forward with community participation. There will be a follow up meeting on October 22 where input from this planning meeting will be brought forward to develop a final plan to be voted upon by the city.

Street Improvements: A road diet will be imposed to take out a Northbound lane and restripe from Shea to past Bell Rd to two lanes each direction and include a bicycle lane. A treatment will be applied from Shea to Greenway for a new rubberized surface, new road striping will take place up North 32nd Street for bicycle lane connectivity. The new pavement work will take place in the spring during March/April 2015. Signage will be installed from Shea to Bell Rd and will include the 32nd street logo, November will mark the start of this work.

Feedback can be sent directly to the District 3 office at 602-262-7441 or council.district.3@phoenix.gov.

Below are some photos from the event.

Councilman Bill Gates and Vice Mayor Jim Waring would like your comments and input on the draft of the North 32nd st plan.  The plan will help guide future development on North 32nd St with regard to land use, transportation, infrastructure, community amenities and branding the corridor.

The next citizen meetings are scheduled at Shea Middle School 2728 East Shea Blvd. Phoenix.

• September 30th  6:00 – 7:00 p.m
• October 22nd 6:00-7:00pm

Share your thoughts and let your voice be heard!

The North 32nd Street Corridor is a citizen driven effort to improve the conditions along 32nd Street. The Corridor is approximately eight miles and runs from State Route 51 to the Loop 101 Freeway. For many years, 32nd Street was the main north-south transportation corridor in north central Phoenix. The completion of State Route 51 from Northern Avenue to the Loop 101 Freeway reduced vehicle use along the Corridor and demographic changes within neighborhoods adjacent to the freeway have impacted and changed the businesses and traffic characteristics of the area along 32nd Street. Vacant commercial lots, dated buildings, signage, parking design, lack of bicycle lanes, decrepit landscaping, and under-capacity traffic are examples of the current status of 32nd Street. Residents and businesses in the area are interested in revitalizing the land uses along 32nd Street to upgrade the number and types of businesses by increasing visitation and to improve the amenities available for residents of the area.

Recognizing the deteriorating conditions along 32nd Street, Phoenix Vice Mayor Jim Waring and Councilman Bill Gates formed a coalition of area business leaders and residents to study and make recommendations about improving conditions along 32nd Street. This coalition, the 32nd Street Working Group, started meeting in the spring of 2012 and formed three subcommittees to focus on specific issues. In addition, reports related to the North 32nd Street Corridor were provided by Arizona State University and the Urban Land Institute.

City Approval Meetings will take place:

• November 3rd- Paradise Valley Village Planning Commission
• November 9th Phoenix Planning Commission
• December 3rd Phoenix City Council Formal Meeting