[Sekkle]

I think the point is more to relieve I-10 congestion and for people in West Phoenix than to serve Westgate. Westgate and the developments around it may add traffic to I-10, but the LRT would help with commuting options for people in Maryvale, etc. When studies looking at transit (MAG's High Capacity Transit Study and the Regional Transit System Study) were completed in 2003, Westgate was nowhere in sight and the I-10 corridor still had the best rating in terms of cost effectiveness - that is, the number of people and the "environmental justice" population (disabled, low income, minorities, elderly) it would serve compared to the cost.

The Regional Transportation Plan identified an "Eligible High Capacity Corridor" from I-10 to Bethany Home Rd. along the 101, which would serve the Westgate area. I don't think there would be a more efficient way to bring LRT to Westgate... if they were to branch off from the 19th Ave section of the starter segment along Bethany Home Rd. (as originally proposed to serve downtown Glendale) to the 101, it would be a much longer extension, with much more invasive construction since it would likely run in the middle of a surface street instead of alongside or in the median of a freeway.