Tempe approves Mill Avenue salvaged-brick streetscape, backs equity parks study, pursues $134.6M pavement bond
TEMPE, ARIZONA — September 29, 2023

Tempe approves Mill Avenue salvaged-brick streetscape, backs equity parks study, pursues $134.6M pavement bond

Tempe City Council work study session reviewed Mill Avenue streetscape design direction (salvaged brick with mosaic elements), approved Making Space and Equity Study for Parks and Recreation, and directed staff to pursue four-year PQI pavement acceleration program requiring $134.6 million in voter-approved bonds.

Tempe Council Leans Into Pavement Crisis, Approves Mill Avenue Streetscape, and Advances Equity-Driven Parks Study

On September 29, Tempe City Council's work study session produced three significant planning and infrastructure outcomes: approval of a salvaged-brick streetscape design for Mill Avenue, presentation of a comprehensive equity study for Parks and Recreation, and strong council direction to pursue a $134.6 million pavement acceleration program that will require voter authorization in November 2024. The 90-minute meeting showcased the council's appetite for addressing long-deferred maintenance while maintaining public engagement and community voice.

Mill Avenue Streetscape: Recycled Brick Wins, with Mosaic Storytelling

The evening opened with presentation of the Mill Avenue streetscape design direction for the half-mile corridor stretching from University Drive to Rio Salado Parkway. After June narrowing of five hardscape concepts to three, and subsequent public feedback gathering, staff and the design consultant J2 presented a hybrid recommendation integrating the strengths of two competing proposals: salvaged brick as the dominant field material, complemented by colored pavers and lithium mosaic at strategic corners to tell Tempe's cultural and historical narrative.

Key Speeches

"We want to reassure you of that and then really because this is such an important project for the whole city for the whole Community we want to make sure that you're aware that we're looking at all the different um stories that can be told through the street I mean we're familiar with some of the elements that are out there today like the Walt Richardson plaque but we really want to bring out and that's what we've been hearing from the boards and commission and the stakeholders is telling that whole story of Tempe who we are from the indigenous communities that we're here first to contemporary Tempe." — Eric Iverson, Sustainability and Resilience Director

"Below the brick layer we're not going to get in too much detail in respectful of your time here but there'll be a concrete slurry basically almost like a soil cement or six inches below with an inch of sand on top for leveling that's really hopefully never going to settle we've done that in other downtowns and high traffic areas and eight to ten years it's really holding up well so I think we're gonna we're gonna nail that." — Jeff Laskas, J2 Consultant

Timeline

Project Details

Making Space and Equity Study: Data-Driven Parks Planning for Historically Excluded Communities

The council then received the draft Making Space and Equity Study for City of Tempe Parks and Recreation, a comprehensive 18-month initiative designed to embed equity principles into park planning, programming, and staffing. The study's centerpiece is the introduction of six guiding principles (SPACES framework), an equity priority zones map, and an equity investment matrix organized by character areas to guide capital and operational decisions.

Key Speeches

"Our Outreach strategies were Guided by the equity and action plan and our engagement for this study was focused and high quality we reached people that we've never heard from as a division before for example one in five of the people that responded to our overall Community survey have never engaged with a public process before." — Sean Wagner, Deputy Community Services Director

"An important aspect we observed is different in Tempe is how strictly people stick to Neighbourhood enclaves for accessing Parks and Recreation this means the approach that we took for Geographic examination really matters and it needs to be precisely evaluated." — Anna Labourn, Design Workshop Consultant

Timeline

Project Details

Pavement Quality Index Acceleration: $188 Million, Four-Year Push, November 2024 Ballot

The most consequential item of the evening was staff's request for council direction to pursue a four-year Pavement Quality Index (PQI) acceleration program. The city's current PQI score sits at 60; council's performance measure target is 70. Staff proposed an aggressive program to reach 82 by 2028, requiring $188 million over four years, of which $53.9 million is already programmed in the Capital Improvement Plan. The additional $134.6 million would be funded through voter-authorized General Obligation Bonds in a November 2024 election, with an estimated property tax impact of $81 per year on a median single-family home.

Key Speeches

"we're on the right path however and need adequate funding to continue the acceleration which we'll talk a little bit further in the presentation in terms of the acceleration plan and funding the plan will uh basically as you could see on the map The Mill and overlays is probably the higher extensive work that we'll be performing on our arterials and residentials that consists of Mill and overlays about 639 Lane miles of Mill and overlays and then the rest of the uh work that we'll be doing is primarily pavement preservation and that consists of foxtel slurry seals Cape seals Etc." — Isaac Chavira, Interim Engineering and Transportation Deputy Director

"we are limited by the state constitution on how much we can have how much debt we can have outstanding with Geo bonds affectionately known as the 6 and 20. we work closely with our investment banker we don't feel that's going to be an issue at all over the next four years so we're good there we also have to go out and get voter authorized um approval we have a scheduled November 2024 ballot election and if we get direction to proceed forward we would include this additional funding request in our upcoming CIP and then that would be included on the November 2024 ballot." — Tom Dunsing, Chief Deputy City Manager

Timeline

Councilmember Garland opened by referencing constituent door-knocking feedback: "I have not been out in the community once without somebody at least one person talking to me about the conditions of our roads um either the potholes or that we've you know put so many Band-Aids on it we cannot where can you put another Band-Aid." He advocated to "lean" into the program and expressed preference for ballot option two (standalone PQI question), though staff was not requesting direction on that issue tonight.

Nikki Amberg agreed, noting: "I noticed that my ZIP code has the worst roads in the entire city so that'll be something helpful to be talking about" and lauded the "modest cost to the individual citizen to get this done faster."

Jennifer Adams echoed the sentiment, citing constant community feedback about street conditions. She noted residents do not simply want patching: "they don't want repairs though I will literally have people walk me out in front of their home and say look it's obvious that we've patched the street and we've patched it again and we've patched it again when am I going to get a fresh new coat out here on my street." She emphasized that neighborhoods streets—not just arterials and collectors—need attention and cited Warner Avenue as a model. She concluded: "I think whatever we can do to rapidly accelerate uh addressing all of the pavement in the city and really showing our residents that if you approve something like this in the next four or five years if your street hasn't been touched for quite some time you're going to see that fresh new coat not a patch job but a completely fresh new Street I think that's something our residents would absolutely want us to lean into."

Project Details

Opposition

No organized opposition was voiced or presented at this work study session. The forum is a work study session, not a public hearing, and no public comment period is held on agenda items.

Support

Council expressed overwhelming and repeated support for the acceleration program, with all three council members present (Corey D Woods did not voice a position but did not object) affirming the program and using language such as "lean in" and describing the $81 annual cost as "modest." The council's rationale centered on constituent feedback from door-knocking campaigns, the visibility of patch-work and deterioration, and the desire to show residents a complete street refresh rather than repeated repairs.

Vote Breakdown

The pavement acceleration program did not proceed to a formal vote. Staff requested and received council direction (through discussion and affirmation rather than rollcall vote) to proceed with including the program in the upcoming CIP process and preparing ballot language for the November 2024 election.

Outcome & Next Steps

Mill Avenue Streetscape:

Making Space and Equity Study:

Pavement Quality Index Acceleration:

Controversies & Context

Pavement Crisis as Community Priority: Council members framed the PQI acceleration as a response to chronic constituent dissatisfaction. Councilmember Garland and Jennifer Adams both noted that road conditions dominate door-to-door conversations, with residents expressing frustration at repeated patching rather than comprehensive resurfacing. This language suggests accumulated deferred maintenance has become a political liability and a quality-of-life concern that council members view as critical to address before the next election cycle.

Property Tax Stabilization Policy: The requirement to amend the property tax stabilization policy to accommodate additional GO Bond issuance introduces a procedural hurdle and signals potential political complexity. Staff noted that Tempe already has the highest property tax levy among peer cities; adding $81 per home would maintain that highest-in-region position, though the overall cost-of-service ranking (including utilities and sales taxes) would shift Tempe from 4th to 5th place regionally. This fiscal context may factor into voter receptiveness in November 2024.

Ballot Timing: Staff's presentation of two ballot structure options—adding to an existing question versus creating a standalone question—indicates that final messaging and voter strategy remain in development. The decision may influence voter comprehension and approval likelihood.

Duration

Other Notable Items

Future Agenda Items and Committee Updates: No council members requested addition of future agenda items to the work study session schedule. No substantive committee update reports were provided by council members.