Phoenix's Grand Canal plans hit access roadblock
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The Grand Canal just west of Central Avenue. Photo: Jeremy Duda/Axios
Phoenix has high hopes of turning parts of the Grand Canal into an interactive, pedestrian-friendly zone.
Yes, but: Some of those plans have hit a roadblock in the form of the Salt River Project's (SRP) need for access to the critical waterway.
Driving the news: The city's Reinvent PHX plan for the Uptown area, which was adopted in 2015 and lays out a vision for what Phoenix will look like by 2040, calls for improvements along the canal between Seventh Avenue and Seventh Street and for about a half-mile north and south of the canal.
- Those enhancements could include public art, shops and patios.
- Josh Bednarek, Phoenix's deputy director for planning, tells Axios Phoenix that the city wants to "activate" the canal with more uses that face toward the waterway instead of away from it.
Details:The Grand Canal is a federal waterway managed by SRP and the utility needs unobstructed access for vehicles and heavy equipment on both banks, spokesperson Patty Garcia-Likens tells Axios Phoenix.
- The utility uses the canal system to provide water to 2.5 million people in the Valley.
Of note: Garcia-Likens says the city's Grand Canalscape project already includes walking paths and lighting between the sevens.
- That's part of a continuous 12-mile recreational trail system that runs along the canal from Interstate 17 to the Phoenix-Tempe border, she said.
State of play: The only project that's being actively planned in this area of the canal is along Central Avenue, south of Coolidge Street, where buildings were recently razed to make way for an apartment complex.
- RAS Developments wants to include a coffee shop, juice bar or some other type of business that would allow people to congregate near the narrow stretch of canal.
- Bednarek says that project could be "a potential starting point for how we want to see the canal activated."
Between the lines: There aren't currently many opportunities for development between Seventh and Seventh, with residential housing taking up most of the area west of Central and educational institutions lining both sides of the canal to the east.
- Bednarek says property owners have unofficially expressed interest in redevelopment near Seventh Street.