With only about a year left before Arizona's Light Rail line is set to begin carrying passengers, I have seen many changes so far with many more to come. One in particular was the addition of the bridge spanning Tempe Town Lake. Nearly $22 million was spent to build an award winning bridge to carry light rail cars and passengers from one side of the lake to the other.
Tempe Town Lake plays a major part in the new light rail system
The bridge design includes a state-of-the-art fiber-optic lighting system that can change colors as the train crosses and provide other interesting visual effects. A fiber optic tube will be installed under the deck of the bridge and illuminate screens covering the truss structure. The lighting component will be the art feature for the bridge, and was conceived by artist Buster Simpson who is developing several lighting programs to control the color, pattern and movement of the light, such as how quickly the colors change or move across the bridge. The lights were tested over 4th of July this past year but will remain off until further notice. (Grand Opening?) With the bridge lights, the lights from Hayden Ferry Lakeside etc. etc. Tempe will be quite a site. (even more so than now) Stay tuned for more interesting updates for this area. :-)
