Completed in May 2022, this 3-mile-long alignment serves students, professionals visitors and event-goers, passing through Arizona State University’s main campus, continuing by the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Gammage Theater, down Mill Avenue, the city’s hub of dining, shopping and nightlife and along Rio Salado Parkway to Tempe’s business district.

The $119.1-million CMAR project is the Valley of the Sun’s first modern streetcar and connects with the owner’s larger light rail system, making Tempe accessible by rail to the Phoenix metropolitan area, including Sky Harbor International Airport.

Completed below budget and on schedule, the project included 14 stations finished with public art, utility relocation, roadway reconstruction, track construction, signals and communications systems. A vehicle intersection became a roundabout to facilitate safe, efficient movements for the streetcar and vehicles. The streetcar takes a sharp turn through the center of the roundabout, while cars, buses, trucks and motorcycles travel through circular lanes along the circumference.