Rosendin, the nation’s largest employee-owned electrical contracting company with a regional office in Tempe, is proud to recognize local construction teams who built the Valley Metro Tempe Streetcar Project. Crews spent over three years building the region’s first modern-day streetcar line along busy roads and shopping areas that remained open during construction.
The three-mile loop track will serve Arizona State University (ASU), Downtown Tempe, and residential neighborhoods. To ensure the safety of workers and the public during construction, much of the work was concentrated during Arizona’s summers, when foot and vehicle traffic are drastically reduced but daily temperatures skyrocket to 110 degrees.
“Rosendin has a deep appreciation for all the Valley construction workers who worked long hours to keep this project on schedule while reducing the impact on ASU students, Mill Avenue businesses, and the community,” said Ben Mlinar, Rosendin Division Manager. “We are thankful for our partnership with the IBEW (Int’l Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) for supporting our needs for a robust workforce and to General Contractor Stacy and Witbeck for keeping this complex project moving forward.”
During the pandemic, construction workers were deemed essential and remained on the job with enhanced safety protocols. After ASU sent students home in March 2020, traffic dropped significantly and construction crews were able to stay on schedule.
Additional complexities include the use of hybrid technology to power the Streetcar using an overhead catenary system in some areas and a lithium-ion battery onboard energy storage system in areas such as Downtown Tempe, gateway intersections, and the city’s first roundabout at Tempe Beach Park.
“We greatly appreciate our subcontractors like Rosendin that were essential parts of the Tempe team, the businesses and academic community along the alignment, and all other stakeholders for their contributions and support during construction. We’re proud to be able to deliver this project for Valley Metro to the community and couldn’t have done it without the local subcontracting community, project partners, and stakeholders,” said Brian Dagsland, Project Manager for Stacy and Witbeck, Prime Contractor for the Project.
IBEW Local 640 electrical workers installed 120,000+ feet of electrical conduit, 400 ground rods, and 75 vaults for the Streetcar’s single track and double track alignments. They also performed underground work, installed ground grids and power to all 14 passenger stations to support lighting, vertical and horizontal shading, public art created by local artists, and landscaping.
Stantec Consulting Services designed the project and Brookville Equipment built the streetcars with sleek passenger compartments painted white and bright green for high visibility. Testing began on June 28 to ensure the system and signals operate in the safest way possible. Once the Tempe Streetcar opens to the public, it will offer two connections to Valley Metro’s Light Rail that serves Phoenix, Mesa, and Phoenix Sky Harbor Int’l Airport.
Rosendin, headquartered in San Jose, is the largest employee-owned electrical contractor in the United States, employing over 7,000 people, with revenues upwards of $2 billion. Established in 1919, Rosendin remains proud of our more than 100 years of building quality electrical and communications installations and value for our clients but, most importantly, for building people within our community and our company. At Rosendin, we foster a culture of diversity, inclusion, and shared ownership.
