Residents, light-rail operators learn to share road

As the clock hits 3 p.m., students chatting on cell phones, riding bikes and lugging backpacks pour out of Central High School and over onto Central Avenue.

Olivia Ortiz, 17, uses a crosswalk to pass over light-rail tracks that now grace the middle of the heavily trafficked street. But some other students jaywalk, standing in the tracks and waiting for a break in traffic to continue across.

"I think that there are a lot of ignorant people at Central that won't pay attention," Ortiz said. "But there are definitely some people that won't be affected by it."

As the days wind down to Dec. 27, the first day passengers can ride, similar scenes play out in downtown Phoenix, around Arizona State University and at other points along the 20 miles of light rail. Test trains scoot through, honking horns and residents adjust to a new reality: People and trains are going to share the road.

While the adjustment has been smooth overall, the Metro light rail recorded its first accident this week when a train hit a car that police said apparently ran a red light. No one was hurt.

A $500,000 public-awareness campaign includes radio ads in English and Spanish, mailings to homes, schools and businesses near the line and literature displayed at restaurants and shops.

Diners at Downtown Deli, where the rails pass barely 10 feet from the entrance, read tabletop displays about staying safe around trains. Ortiz and other students at Central High received a safety presentation during an assembly. Metro ran test trains during an ASU football game to acclimate fans who now must cross the tracks outside Sun Devil Stadium.

One of the reasons for the campaign isn't readily apparent until one witnesses a light-rail train pass: For something so big - each Metro vehicle is 90 feet long - it's surprisingly quiet. Despite the campaign, it's still easy to spot a handful of people jaywalking or standing on or too close to the tracks, sometimes looking the wrong way.

"It's not like a locomotive that you hear miles away," said Hillary Foose, a Metro light rail spokeswoman. "There are audio and visual cues, but you do have to look and listen for those things."

Phoenix police will hand out $140 tickets to jaywalkers and Tempe and Mesa, where the line also heads, have fines as well.

Crosswalk signals have more significance along the light-rail line, and drivers must adjust to new left-turn arrows at intersections. Trains have their own signals.

"Simple things, like obeying your traffic signals, red means stop - it is so key to your safety around light-rail systems," Foose said.

Metro officials have looked to other cities that have launched light-rail systems, including Denver and Salt Lake City.

Jerry Benson, chief operating officer for the Utah Transit Authority, said Salt Lake City's system, TRAX, experienced only minor accidents after opening nine years ago, and those were concentrated in areas heavy with vehicle traffic and pedestrians.

"I would advise people to be very, very watchful of the trains," Benson said. "You can't hear them and they move really fast."

There's no greater confluence of traffic and pedestrians along the line than Central Avenue in downtown Phoenix, where trains are a gray blur through the front window of the Downtown Barbershop.

Trimming a customer's hair one recent morning, Boris Zavurov said the trains will be good for people and good for business.

"The main reason I like it is it's going to give us a lot of exposure," Zavurov said. "It's free advertising."

About 10 miles east along the line in Tempe, ASU is filled with students making their way to and from apartments and parking lots north of the tracks.

One recent morning, three people ventured across, glancing quickly to the left and right, as Jennifer Hahn, a nursing student, patiently waited for the signal to cross the tracks along Veterans Way. She said that any inconvenience is tempered by knowing that she'll be able to ride the train to classes in Phoenix.

"I'm so excited; next semester I'm going to be going the downtown campus, so I'll park here and ride back and forth," Hahn said.

Just east of campus in Tempe, another ASU student, Dean Eastidos, wasn't as big a fan. He said light-rail tests back up traffic, and he expects the trains to cause some accidents.

"It'll probably happen because people aren't used to it," Eastidos said.

As he walked away, a train passed, its driver wearing a Santa Claus hat and waving to pedestrians.

Teens jaywalk on light-rail tracks near Central High School in Phoenix.