Tree Planting, Bike Rides to Highlight Phoenix Rio Salado Fair

Oct. 22, 2001

A community fair on Oct. 27 will offer people the chance to help plant the first trees for the Phoenix Rio Salado project and give cyclists an opportunity to try out a new section of the Phoenix Sonoran Bikeway.

The Phoenix Rio Salado Community Fair and Bike Ride will take place 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27 at the northeast corner of Central Avenue and the Salt River. There will be free refreshments, a rock-climbing wall and face painting. Environmental groups also will be on hand with interactive displays and exhibits.

The bike ride will help to mark the opening of the Sonoran Bikeway recently completed between Jefferson and Baseline avenues. There will be a 12-mile ride and a 2-mile ride. Both will depart from the fair site around 10 a.m. Bicycle helmets are required. No registration is required.

The mesquite trees to be planted at the event were specially raised for the Phoenix Rio Salado project from seeds gathered within one-half mile of the Salt River. They were grown under contract with a local nursery and eventually will be planted throughout the project site.

When completed, the Phoenix Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Project will cover a five-mile bank-to-bank stretch of the Salt riverbed from the Interstate 10 bridge to 19th Avenue. It will create a 580-acre desert river habitat consisting of streams, ponds and wetlands, stands of cottonwoods and willow trees, mesquite groves, desert grasslands and shrubs. It is being constructed through a partnership of the city of Phoenix, the Maricopa County Flood Control District and the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Media Contact:

David Urbinato Pager Joyce Valdez

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