A regional transportation study recommends only one roadway change for Sedona in the next 20 years — a bypass of the ‘Y’ intersection via Ranger Road.
Lima & Associates, a transportation planning firm from Phoenix, conducted the Verde Valley Multimodal Transportation Study at the request of Yavapai County aimed at creating a roadway system to accommodate future growth in the area. The plan will be presented to the community for public input Thursday, Jan. 15, at 5:30 p.m. in the Sedona City Council Chambers.
By Trista Steers
Larson Newspapers
A regional transportation study recommends only one roadway change for Sedona in the next 20 years — a bypass of the ‘Y’ intersection via Ranger Road.
Lima & Associates, a transportation planning firm from Phoenix, conducted the Verde Valley Multimodal Transportation Study at the request of Yavapai County aimed at creating a roadway system to accommodate future growth in the area. The plan will be presented to the community for public input Thursday, Jan. 15, at 5:30 p.m. in the Sedona City Council Chambers.
Regional agencies, such as the county, conduct transportation studies every four to five years to update project information for planning, designing and building for the future, Yavapai County Public Works Director Phil Bourdon said.
“It’s just the normal process of updating our planning document,” Bourdon said.
However, in today’s economic climate the county is making major budget cuts, and planning may be where the process pauses for now.
Sedona Specific
The recommended alteration in Sedona entails extending Ranger Road through the Brewer Road intersection to meet Highway 89A west of the roundabout at Brewer Road and Highway 89A.
“It definitely would be quite a bit of help at the ‘Y’,” Sandy Weir, Lima & Associates senior transportation planner, said.
Highway 179 and Highway 89A went untouched.
Demand for improvements on Highway 179 is there, Weir said, but recent construction on the corridor takes care of concerns. Planning for Highway 179 took place in the last five years and the study team didn’t see any reason to make further changes.
In West Sedona, Weir said there will be improvements made, but at a local rather than regional level. The study briefly looked at a bypass, or minor collector road for neighborhoods along Highway 89A, but it’s not a regional problem.
The city of Sedona will look at planning for spot improvements including turning lanes and intersection enhancements, according to Weir.
Regional Improvements
Motorists driving from the Village of Oak Creek to Camp Verde may be able to skip Interstate 17 in the future without driving to Cottonwood.
The study proposes the extension of Beaverhead Flat Road from where it ends at Cornville Road to Highway 260.
Weir said there has been talk of connecting Cornville Road and Highway 260 via Beaverhead Flat in the past and studies showed it would attract traffic and alleviate some congestion on the interstate.
The interstate would also be improved under the plan to three lanes in each direction rather than two.
Improvements and construction of new roads in Cottonwood and Camp Verde are also proposed.
Funding
“Everyone realizes we have completed [the study] as the economy tanked,” Weir said, but it’s a long-range plan. Ten years is a long time, and if some projects are delayed for a few years, it won’t be a big deal.
The county won’t stop planning for the future, Bourdon said, but projects won’t start right away.
“You can’t just stop planning because you’re having an economic downturn,” Bourdon said.
Planning now means when money is available, it can be used for projects already identified.
“When our economy does return we need to be poised and ready to take action,” Yavapai County District 3 Supervisor Chip Davis said.
Public Input
The public is invited to view the transportation plan in each of the communities on a different night and offer feedback.
Open houses used to present plans is part of the process, Bourdon said.
Engineers draw lines on a map but it goes deeper than that, Davis said. There are social and political issues that affect the planning process, and that’s where
the public comes in. Residents
see things experts sometimes miss.
