Completed in 1999, the Fifth Street Streetscape Project from Priest Drive to Farmer Avenue included bike lanes, landscaping, landscape medians, and speed limit reductions, 

In 1995, after widening Priest Drive and opening the Loop 202 freeway entrance, traffic counts on Fifth Street were nearly 10,000 autos per day. The project included narrowed lanes, traffic diverters and traffic chokers, which cut traffic by 40 percent to 6,000 autos per day. 

Tempe obtained a federal grant for designing traffic calming and pedestrian enhancements to the street, to reduce the traffic volumes and speeds and improve conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists.  The project cost about $3.5 million.