Don’t be surprised if you see a streetcar rolling through downtown Tempe.

Valley Metro, which will operate the streetcar, will test one of the vehicles on the streetcar track for a few hours beginning 11 p.m. Tuesday. The vehicles will be deployed for further testing in Tempe later this year, likely in the summer.

Work on Tempe’s $200 million streetcar line is in the final stretch as Valley Metro tests vehicles and trains drivers before the line begins to operate at the end of the year.

Testing comes months later than first anticipated. The contractor initially estimated the streetcar route would open this spring, but pandemic-related closures at the vehicles’ Pennsylvania manufacturer delayed that.

The 3-mile route travels through downtown Tempe, Arizona State University and surrounding neighborhoods.

“This project does more than provide residents and visitors with an additional means of getting in and around downtown without a vehicle,” Mayor Corey Woods said in an emailed statement.

He and other city leaders herald the project as a way to diversify public transportation, ease traffic congestion and spur development along the route. The streetcar could serve as a model for mobility options in the region and the city is exploring expanding the line, Woods said.

A study of future extensions was completed in 2020 and identified five potential routes that could connect the existing line to amenities in other parts of the city and Mesa. No funding or timeline for the project has been identified.

Vehicle testing to last several months

Construction of the tracks and stops is done and most of the public art along the line is installed, Tempe spokesperson Amanda Nelson said.

The third of six streetcars is expected to arrive in the summer.

Construction crews were able to speed up work on parts of the track with reduced traffic downtown during the pandemic, but the health crisis forced Brookville Equipment Corporation in Pennsylvania to initially shut down and then reopen with reduced production capacity which delayed delivery of the vehicles.

Valley Metro has been testing the vehicles overnight since early April on the light rail line in Phoenix and at its maintenance yard.

Crews will conduct a walk-through of the streetcar tracks in Tempe on June 8. Workers will walk alongside the streetcar as it makes its way through the tracks to ensure it  properly operates on the tracks and gets around curves. Crews will make any necessary adjustments to the track, Nelson said.

The vehicle will return to Phoenix after the walk-through.

Further testing will take place at the maintenance yard and on the light rail line and they’ll be back in Tempe as more vehicles are delivered. Testing will last several months but there’s not a clear timeline of when the vehicles will be on Tempe roads again, Valley Metro spokesperson Madeline Phipps said.

Ride fee still being determined

Work to relocate underground water and sewer lines on the route started in June 2017 and crews began laying rails in November 2018.

The route will loop around downtown Tempe, connecting riders to neighborhoods, business centers along Rio Salado Parkway and regional destinations.

The streetcar does not use the same lines as light rail. It has 14 stops and two connections to the light rail at Mill Avenue and Third Street and Dorsey Lane and Apache Boulevard.

The system will use hybrid streetcars that run on overhead electric lines through most of the route and on battery power through parts of tree-lined Mill and Ash avenues. The vehicle are smaller than light rail cars and each vehicle holds up to 125 passengers.

The streetcars primarily will share the road with regular vehicle traffic and will move with the speed of traffic and observe posted speed limits.

The project is being paid with a mix of federal grants, regional funding and a local public-private partnership.

Transportation officials still are determining how much it will cost to ride the streetcar. The fare likely will be free for a time to encourage people to try it out, but Nelson said officials are discussing how long the free fare should last and what the price will be after.

Reach reporter Paulina Pineda at [email protected] or 480-389-9637. Follow her on Twitter: @paulinapineda22.

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