City of Tempe details downtown streetscape upgrades and rolling roadway closures starting May 26

City of Tempe staff and their contractor updated downtown merchants and stakeholders on an ongoing streetscape project that has completed off-road hardscape work and will begin rolling full roadway closures beginning May 26 for roadway demolition and replacement.

"We're here to provide an update on our downtown streetscape improvements," said Barrett Yurgermeier, filling in for Josh Warren and representing the City of Tempe Public Works Department, who opened the meeting by outlining project scope including sidewalk and ADA improvements, expanded pedestrian space, historic-marker work, electric and irrigation utility upgrades, new bus shelters and additional street trees.

Ben, a representative of the project contractor, described recent streetscape and landscaping progress: median islands north of 4th Street have been replanted, planter areas near Mission Palms were expanded, and older corner bricks that presented tripping hazards have been replaced with new concrete and gray pavers. He said phases one and two are complete and the project is currently in phase three, with "all mid-block sections" and corner bump-outs (hardscape work off the roadway) finished.

Ben said standard construction hours are 2:00 a.m. to noon but that the schedule will be adjusted when necessary to reduce business impacts. He described gateway-sign work already staged at the site and said crews will return the week of the 20th to install the sign span across the roadway. He also said crews will begin sandblasting and stencil work on small tiled mosaic art pieces and historic markers starting May 18 to refresh corner mosaics.

On traffic impacts, Ben outlined a phased, rolling-sequence closure plan: a full closure between University and 5th Street is expected to start May 26; a subsequent closure from just south of 5th Street up to just south of 3rd Street is scheduled to begin June 8; and a later closure from just south of 3rd Street to just south of Rio Salado is expected to follow, with the project "flopping up" the roadway roughly every two weeks through at least June 22.

Ally Dijkstra of the Downtown Tempe Authority (DTA) said DTA is the merchant point of contact for construction notices, promotions and small-business grant leads. She invited merchants to a merchant meeting and happy hour on April 28 ("you can enjoy one free drink on me") and said DTA will run a summer sidewalk campaign to incentivize visits with prizes and promotions designed to encourage patrons to choose Downtown Tempe during construction and peak heat periods. Ally encouraged merchants to sign up for the DTA weekly newsletter and to tag DTA on social postings so the authority can amplify merchant messaging.

Ally reiterated parking guidance: nearby parking garages will remain accessible during closures, and she recommended the Tempe Trip application and ParkMobile for real-time parking availability and pricing. She also offered one-on-one coordination with merchants that have specific in-store access or delivery needs during construction.

Morgan Kennedy of the City of Tempe Neighborhood Services group advised attendees that city and contractor contact information is available on the project slide deck and asked merchants to direct city questions to her while Josh Warren is out. Morgan said staff will continue outreach with flyers as paving dates are finalized and listed the recurring virtual project update meetings on the second Tuesday of each month (May 12, June 9 and July 14) at 2:00 p.m. on Teams.

Presenters closed by thanking attendees, saying the recording and materials would be posted to the City website, and inviting follow-up questions.