The City of Tempe Realizes its Multimodal Vision for University Drive
Written By:  Ray Yparraguirre, P.E.

The context of one heavily-traveled Tempe, Arizona roadway has significantly transformed in the past two years thanks to a successful partnership among the City of Tempe, Kimley-Horn, and area stakeholders. The Kimley-Horn team, led by Project Manager Ray Yparraguirre, P.E., PTOE, worked closely with the City and stakeholders to redesign and essentially makeover University Drive from Priest Drive to Ash Avenue in the heart of this continuously growing community with a population of approximately 175,000 people. This stretch of University Drive is also located mere blocks from Tempe’s thriving downtown and the main campus of Arizona State University.

The University Drive project is a model street project that moves Tempe closer to a truly multimodal city through increased visibility for pedestrians, more comfortable bicycle lanes, more street crossing opportunities, traffic calming, landscaping, public art, and trees. This important street project balances traffic operations with street amenities to express Tempe’s commitment to providing access for all types of users that helps support neighborhoods and businesses and moves the community forward to a more sustainable future.

The City of Tempe envisioned a new and improved University Drive that would not only include an enhanced streetscape and aesthetic landscaping, but one that would also improve access for all users and create a safer environment for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists. The Kimley-Horn team used their expertise in traffic engineering, multimodal transportation, and landscape design to turn the City’s vision into reality. The improvements, constructed in 2015, were designed to improve safety for all users of the corridor. The Kimley-Horn team designed green bike lanes, the first of its kind for the City, acquiring the necessary approval at the federal level. Along with the bike lanes, there is a bike lane buffer between the bike lane and the vehicular traffic to further enhance safety.

Additionally, the improvements include improved accommodations for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility as well as raised medians with visually appealing landscaping matching the character of Tempe. The raised medians, however, serve a greater purpose than simply enhancing the appearance of this streetscape─the medians change the look and feel of this roadway in a manner that actually reduces motorists’ speeds and changes motorists’ perceptions about what speeds are appropriate for this stretch of roadway. University Drive now has reduced vehicle speeds and greater separation between motorists and bicyclists/pedestrians.

With its keen eye for multimodal solutions, Kimley-Horn also designed mid-block crossing opportunities for pedestrians, a vital improvement in this area known for its pedestrian activity. In fact, mid-block crossings were one of the challenges that Kimley-Horn and the City faced during this project. Originally, the City considered adding unsignalized mid-block crosswalks. However, Kimley-Horn’s traffic experts determined that crosswalks would not provide the level of safety the City desired, and instead, Kimley-Horn designed an alternative solution−the installation of new traffic signals where both Farmer Avenue and Roosevelt Street intersect with University Drive. This provides additional safe crossing opportunities and discourages risky jaywalking behavior.

“The University Drive project is a big success and serves as a model for moving Tempe forward with access for everyone and sustainable streets,” says the City’s Project Manager, Eric Iwersen. The final result of this exciting project is a modern, highly-functional, and enhanced University Drive that has achieved the City’s project objectives, won the support of area stakeholders, and continues to provide a safer and more pleasant place to walk, ride, or drive in the heart of Tempe.