Rio Salado Update Summer 2001

The following also is provided in Spanish. Lo siguiente también es provisto en Español .

Hundreds gather to dedicate Rio Salado Gateway
The "Layers of Time"
Who Is Working On Phoenix Rio Salado?
Antique postcards
Tree Planting & Community Fair

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Hundreds gather to dedicate Rio Salado Gateway

Nearly 300 community members joined city, county, state and federal officials June 4 to dedicate the Gateway to the Phoenix Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Project. The Gateway, with its distinctive shade structure, represents the most visible sign yet of progress on the project.

"It's a dream that took 40 years to realize, one that was made possible thanks to the participation of residents of south Phoenix," said U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor, speaking about the Gateway dedication and the involvement of residents from the surrounding community.

The columns of the Gateway shade structure are covered with interpretive tiles created by a local artist. Community members donated many of the objects represented in the tiles by the artist (see related story on page 2).

"The Gateway brings us one step closer to the long-awaited restoration of the Salt River and is a visible reminder that the City of Phoenix and its partners are committed to the Rio Salado Project," Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza said. "Phoenix is proud to partner with the Flood Control District of Maricopa County and the Army Corps of Engineers to make this a reality."

The Gateway is a biker and pedestrian plaza landscaped with native riverbed vegetation and its distinctive shade structure that opens out toward the river. Located on Central Avenue at the Salt River, the plaza is the "gateway" into the heart of the project.

Phoenix City Councilmembers Cody Williams and Phil Gordon, Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth and officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Transportation were among those on hand for the dedication. Assistant City Manager Sheryl Sculley opened the ceremony and introduced the speakers.

A crowd of almost 300 people gathered to dedicate the Gateway plaza.

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Who Is Working On Phoenix Rio Salado?

Five miles long, 580 acres, stretching across the Salt riverbed, under bridges and bisecting with landfills, Phoenix Rio Salado is developing into a habitat and recreational amenity for the public. The construction of the project is an epic feat of engineering and employs many people. Here is a partial list of the local firms currently working on the project.

CH2M Hill has been selected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide design services for Rio Salado. The company, teamed with Premier Engineering and Ten Eyck Landscape Architects, will focus on the habitat development, water distribution system, trails and public facilities. The overall project includes improvements to a five-mile stretch of the Salt riverbed in Phoenix from 19th Avenue to the Interstate 10 bridge. Construction is scheduled for completion in 2004.

The Corps of Engineers selected URS Corp. of Phoenix to design and install the production wells needed for the project. The first well on the northeast corner of Central Avenue at the Salt River will be ready to use by October 1, 2001.

R.E. Monks won a contract from the Flood Control District of Maricopa County to do the major grading and earthwork for the low-flow channel, using design documents prepared by Montgomery Watson Mining Group. This work is complete from 19th Avenue to 4th Street at a cost of $9 million. R.E. Monks will start the second phase from 4th Street to the Interstate 10 bridge late this summer and finish by June 2002.

AMEC, Hargis + Associates, and SCS Engineers have all assisted with environmental and geotechnical studies of the project area under the direction of Donn Stoltzfus, the city's principal environmental professional on the project team. Much of this work has focused on the old landfills along the river. In addition, AMEC just completed a study of soil and water conditions near the 28th Street storm drain, which discharged runoff from a south Phoenix warehouse fire in August 2000. The study concluded that there was no contamination in this area that would adversely impact the progress of the Rio Salado project.

Weddle & Gilmore Architects have been selected by the City of Phoenix to design the Rio Salado Environmental Education Center and Maintenance Facility on a five-acre site at the northeast corner of 7th Avenue and the Salt River.

Catapult Strategic Design has been selected by the City of Phoenix to develop a signage master plan for the project.

PBSJ and Ten Eyck have been designing a seven-acre habitat demonstration site at Central Avenue and the Salt River. The first wetland pond will be constructed this fall. Orcott/Winslow and Stanley Consultants, with Ten Eyck landscape architects, have completed the first entrance Gateway plaza (see related stories on pages 1-2) on the southeast corner of Central Avenue and the Salt River.

Visitors gather at the Gateway to the Phoenix Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Project on June 4. The Gateway is located on the Salt River at Central Avenue in southcentral Phoenix.

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Tree Planting & Community Fair

Join us this fall for a community fair and tree planting on the banks of the Salt River. The event will be held Saturday, October 27, 2001 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. on Central Avenue (northeast corner) at the Salt River. Call 602-495-5720 for more information.

The completed Gateway offers beautifully manicured grounds and its distinctive shade structure for respite from the Arizona sun.

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Take Part In Shaping Rio Salado

Add your input into the Phoenix Rio Salado Project by sitting in on a meeting of the Rio Salado Citizens Advisory Commitee. The meetings are held at the 4732 S. Central Avenue, Phoenix from 3 to 5 p.m.

THEY WILL MEET: September 20, November 15

Visit us on the Internet

The Phoenix Rio Salado Habit Restoration Project may be viewed on the Internet. Check us out and tell others to look us up at: phoenix.gov/riosalado.
Comments, Questions and sugestion, can be forwarded to Karen Williams, the city's Rio Salado Project Coordinator at (602) 262-4717 or 2000W. Washington Street, 12 Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85003 or karen.williams@phoenix.gov.

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