Sidewalks that stop without warning. Concrete heaved up by roots. Stretches so narrow that anyone walking has to step into the street to get around an obstacle. That is how the Arcadia Camelback Mountain Neighborhood Association described 56th Street in the photo captions on its 56th Street background page, years before any crew arrived.
The crews are on the corridor now. The City of Phoenix Street Transportation Department scheduled construction on 56th Street from Thomas Road to Camelback Road to begin October 12, 2026, and expects to finish in Fall 2028. ACMNA put the news under a headline that ended in an exclamation point: "Construction has started!" If you drive this stretch, the next two years will bring cones and detours. They will also bring the street that a group of your neighbors spent nine years asking for, feature by feature.
A Campaign That Started at the Kitchen Table
The City's project page calls this a "community-driven project," and the record backs that up. In late February 2017, parents and residents from the Arcadia Osborn Neighborhood Association teamed up with ACMNA residents to form a working group called SAVES and Connects 56th Street. Its monthly meetings brought together staff from the Phoenix Streets Department, a traffic engineer from CivTech, a representative from the District 6 Council Office, and members of both neighborhood associations.
The group did the groundwork itself. It surveyed more than 600 local families, collected letters of support from churches, neighborhood associations and civic leaders, and won $120,000 in grants for design studies, plus another $5,000 grant for the project's sustainability elements. This is how the project got from complaint to construction:
- February 2017. SAVES and Connects 56th Street begins meeting.
- May 2018. ACMNA announces three community feedback meetings, timed to a limited ADOT funding window.
- June 20, July 18 and September 26, 2018. The City holds three open houses for the corridor study, with about 330 residents attending.
- May 2022. Final design begins for the full project.
- June 2026. The City publishes its final project map.
- October 12, 2026. Construction is scheduled to begin.
- Fall 2028. Anticipated completion.
The open houses are where neighbors turned that early research into an actual street design.
The Acronym Became the Spec Sheet
SAVES stands for Safety, Aesthetics, Volume, Enjoyment and Speed. Those five words read like a slogan in 2017. Line them up against the current scope on the City's project page and each one has a matching line item.
| SAVES goal | What the City is building |
|---|---|
| Safety | A continuous multi-use bicycle and pedestrian path on both the west and east sides of 56th Street, 10 to 12 feet wide |
| Aesthetics | Low-water-use shade trees next to the sidewalk and path, plus landscaping along the corridor |
| Volume | Signal updates at five intersections and work at the Exeter Boulevard intersection to improve traffic flow |
| Enjoyment | New curbs, gutters, sidewalks and ADA-compliant ramps where the old sidewalks broke off |
| Speed | Traffic-calming features meant to encourage safer travel speeds |
The path's design shows its origins most clearly. At the second open house in July 2018, the City showed residents a set of trade-offs. One was a 48-foot roadway against a 32-foot roadway. Another was bicycle facilities at street level with a buffer against raised bike lanes separated from traffic. At the third open house that September, the presentation recorded "Alternative 2 – Raised Bike Lanes" as the preferred option. The final design takes that preference and moves it fully off the road. Bicycles and pedestrians share a wide path on each side, and the City says the path is meant for younger cyclists, school-age children, families and pedestrians.
The calming measures are just as specific. The 90 percent design roll plots list raised intersections, traffic chokers and raised pedestrian crossings. These measures slow drivers by changing the shape of the street rather than relying on signs. They address the "Speed" in SAVES directly.
Some of the work will be invisible once it is done. A 24-inch storm drain will run the full length of 56th Street from Thomas Road to Camelback Road. Burying a drain that long explains much of why the timeline runs into 2028.
Camelback and 56th Street Gets Rebuilt
Of all the resident requests, the City responded most directly to the one about the signal at Camelback Road. On its project page, the City titled this section "You Asked, We Listened!" and laid out the history:
During our various public engagement phases, residents asked for modifications to the traffic signal at Camelback Road and 56th Street. Specifically, people were requesting a left turn arrow to turn onto 56th Street from eastbound on Camelback or from 56th Street to westbound on Camelback.
Instead of adding one arrow, the City designed a complete rebuild of the signal. The finished intersection will have:
- Green, solid yellow, red and flashing yellow arrows on every approach
- A dedicated left-turn lane for northbound 56th Street
- Pedestrian push buttons and countdown timers on all four approaches
- New ADA ramps on every corner
If you have ever waited to turn left off Camelback during the evening commute, this is the change you will notice first. It is also the clearest example of a neighborhood request making it into the final plans.
Farther south, the City describes the existing roundabout at Exeter Boulevard as a candidate for "possible changes or improvements." The October construction notice lists work at that intersection to improve safety and traffic flow.
The South End Comes First
Work begins at the south end of the corridor, between Thomas Road and Indian School Road. The City's June 2026 project map splits the corridor at Indian School Road into two phases: Thomas to Indian School, and Indian School to Camelback. On the southern stretch, the design drawings mark Osborn Road, the campus labeled Veritas Prep, and the Arizona Canal. The northern sheet shows Lafayette, Exeter Boulevard, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and a Church of Jesus Christ building on the approach to Camelback. Two of those buildings also hosted the project's early meetings. ACMNA's May 2018 announcement placed the community outreach meetings at Prince of Peace Church, on the northeast corner of Indian School Road and 56th Street. Its notice for the second meeting placed that one at Archway Veritas, 3102 N. 56th Street.
For the day-to-day schedule, the City's October construction notice sets standard work hours of Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Night or weekend work may be scheduled when it would reduce the impact on the neighborhood. The notice says further notices will go out as specific work activities and traffic changes are scheduled. For questions about your own driveway or block, contact the project team directly:
- Project Manager: Chuck Christiansen
- Project Hotline: 623-825-3444
- Project Email: [email protected]
You can also join the e-notice list for SAVES and Connects on ACMNA's 56th Street page. The group that started the project in 2017 still runs it.
The Same Neighbors, Back on Camelback This Month
ACMNA's work on its streets goes beyond 56th Street. Its next Camelback Road cleanup is Saturday, November 21, from 8 to 10 a.m., meeting at Shemer Art Center. The association also says it has several open seats on its board of directors. Two weeks before the cleanup, Shemer Art Center at 5005 E. Camelback Road hosts the free Shemer Arizona Arts Festival on November 7 and 8, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It features more than 40 Arizona artists, demonstrations, chalk art, music, a blacksmiths village and food vendors.
At Cambridge Properties, we follow corridor projects like 56th Street because street design determines how a neighborhood is used long after the work is done. If you have questions about what the rebuilt corridor could mean for a home on or near it, our senior team is available to talk through the project timeline and how comparable street improvements have played out elsewhere in Metro Phoenix.
