Businesses affected by light-rail construction in northwest Phoenix for more than three years will soon see the dust settle and passengers riding the trains.

A 3.2-mile extension of Valley Metro Rail to 19th and Dunlap avenues will begin service March 19. The end of the line currently is 19th and Montebello avenues.

“Opening the Northwest Extension is going to be a special day for Phoenix because it was a project that was nearly put on hold for another decade after the Great Recession,” said Mayor Greg Stanton.

New light-rail stations have been added at Glendale, Northern and Dunlap avenues along the 19th Avenue route.

The extension brings the total mileage for Valley Metro Rail to 26 miles and 35 stations in Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa. 

Glendale is considering whether to support a route from Phoenix past Grand Canyon University to downtown Glendale in a project that is close to a decade away.

“With each opening we move closer to completion of a 66-mile rail system to serve the region by 2034,” said Phoenix City Councilmember Thelda Williams, who also chairs the Valley Metro Rail board.

Construction on the northwest light-rail extension began in January 2013.  It is the Valley’s second extension to open within seven months. The additional 3.2 miles of service on 19th Avenue, between Montebello and Dunlap, is anticipated to serve 5,000 daily riders. 

Connection to a new community along 19th Avenue will be the focus of a festive celebration on March 19 at the Dunlap Avenue park-and-ride lot.

Light rail service on the new extension begins at 10 a.m. All-day commemorative passes will be distributed from 10 a.m. to noon from the 19th Avenue stations at Montebello, Glendale, Northern and Dunlap avenues.

Valley Metro Rail served 71 million passengers in the 2015 fiscal year.