Heritage streetcar system Old Pueblo Trolley ran just over a mile of single-track line recovered from Tucson’s original street railway from Fifth Avenue and Broadway Boulevard, north on Fourth Avenue, then east on University Boulevard to Tyndall Street west of the University of Arizona Main Gate.

Challenges

Typically, rail projects of this magnitude have a lengthy procurement period that follows contract execution, however for this project, the notice to proceed for a very aggressive schedule followed 5 days after contract execution according to information provided by Granite Construction.

Demand for light rail is increasing, and in there are a limited number of U.S. rail manufacturers, whose production schedules dictated the time-table for material procurement and the prefabricated rail curves for Sun Link. To accommodate this challenge, the project schedule focused on straight sections, but allowed construction crews to fall back in order to install curves whenever they arrived. Also, using foreign suppliers was not an option due to “Buy American” contract clauses.

On most rail projects, civil infrastructure occurs first, followed by operations to install the overhead contact system to power the rail cars. Constituent to the tight schedule, construction was segmented into four headings in which construction occurred concurrently. Meanwhile, civil infrastructure was installed in tandem with the overhead contact system.

Complex collaboration was required through the U of A, and separate weekly coordination meetings were conducted between the project team and officials who represented various university interests such as parking and traffic, ADA coordination, Greek Life, Student Union, parking facilities, dormitories, and University Medical Center.

Work through the Fourth Avenue business district was particularly challenging, as tie-overs for new water lines were required according to Granite Construction. The Sun Link’s build-out endured two large Fourth Avenue street festivals, each of which attracted more than 300,000 visitors. At the University of Arizona, historic stone fencing, originally built in the early 20th century from material mined from an abandoned basalt quarry at the base of A Mountain, also had to be protected during the project’s construction. At one point, crews encountered a utility line made out of railroad ties from the early 1900s, Granite said.

“The story of the project is one of coordination,” said Gene Ramirez, Granite’s project manager. “There were many challenges and the exceptional cooperation between the team was instrumental in overcoming them.”

More than 125,000 people live along the new streetcar route.

Old Pueblo Trackworks is a venture between Granite Construction Company and Rail Works Track Systems. Granite, Rail Works, and the City of Tucson offices were co-located on Fourth Avenue throughout the project’s implementation.