money Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to visit Phoenix light rail site, Sky Harbor airport Friday
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and the future location of the northwest Phoenix light rail line are on the agenda Friday as U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg visits Arizona to promote the signing of the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure bill.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, negotiated in large by U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and signed into law by President Joe Biden earlier this week, will infuse funding into public works projects nationally. Arizona will be eligible for billions, for highways, roads, bridges, public transit, airports, broadband internet, wildfire protection and cybersecurity.
Buttigieg will visit the future Northwest light rail extension as part of a Valley Metro event at the shuttered Metrocenter Mall. The event will celebrate $58 million in federal funding for the project, which was announced earlier this year but will be officially approved on Friday.
The light rail line will extend the light rail 1.5 miles from the existing end of line station in northwest Phoenix to Metrocenter Mall, which city officials hope will help spur stalled redevelopment of the mall site. Light rail is one of many transit projects in Arizona that may benefit from the infrastructure act.
The event will feature FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez, her first visit to Phoenix in this role, according to Valley Metro communications director Hillary Foose.
"In addition to Administrator Fernandez, there are many other “firsts” associated with this project and we’re thrilled to be celebrating them, and this infrastructure project in general, with our local and federal leaders," Foose said.
Buttigieg also will visit Sky Harbor, according to the Mayor's Office.
Under the infrastructure act, the city's airport is eligible for $44 million a year, or $222 million over 5 years. Projects could include improving the infrastructure on the tarmac that will lower wait times for takeoff and improving the road leading into the airport, Sky Harbor Boulevard, to make it easier for travelers to navigate.
Buttigieg visited Phoenix in July to build support for the infrastructure bill, saying at the time it would better connect residents and boost the local economy.
Reach the reporter at jen.fifield@azcentral.com or at 602-444-8763. Follow her on Twitter @JenAFifield.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Pete Buttigieg to visit Arizona to promote infrastructure act
