Uptown traffic has been a point of debate for nearly as long as Sedona has been incorporated, a fact Sedona Mayor Rob Adams hopes to see remedied.

Adams is investigating whether the city should purchase 22 acres of undeveloped property in the Uptown area and use it to help alleviate the traffic backups that often occur there. The property, located behind the Sedona Arts Center, also has some creek-front access. Money transferred from the city’s operational reserve account could possibly be used for the purchase, Adams said.

The property could be used for three purposes that Adams said would enhance the area and lighten traffic congestion. One purpose would be the creation of a creek-front park. A second purpose would be the expansion of the Sedona Arts Center.

“They’re limited by their parking and their ability to add any more building space,” Adams said. “They have a historic building there, and they can’t do anything significant with the building to improve it or expand it.”

The third purpose for the property would be the creation of a bypass that would cross State Route 89A, creating an arterial route around Uptown and using Jordan Road, which Adams said would increase Jordan’s value as a commercial corridor.

“Then it would connect into Forest Road, so people that wanted to get around Uptown could do it, or people that wanted to park and go into Uptown could do it,” Adams said. “It’s about the only thing that I have heard out there that would alleviate traffic. I don’t think it would eliminate it, but it would mitigate the traffic backups there.”

The property is estimated to cost somewhere between $4.5 million to $5 million dollars.

Adams said the issue is one the community will need to address, whether now or later.

“There could be money available and we would decrease the amount of money in our reserve account. That’s kind of what I’m targeting,” Adams said, adding that reserve funds might not equal the cost to buy the property.

“Some of that money is going to be used for the storm water management and accelerating that program,” Adams said.

Currently, Adams has been meeting with businesses, property owners and organizations that could be impacted as a result of the proposed bypass.

“So far I’ve gotten some very good responses,” Adams said.

Sedona Arts Center Executive Director Mei Wei Wong said the idea of the bypass, which might include a possible roundabout, would help traffic flow in Uptown. The arts center is located at the northern edge of Uptown on Art Barn Road.

“Part of the city’s plan was to have a roundabout and I think that was going to be part of that option that he is envisioning, where we have a roundabout somewhere north of the Sedona Arts Center and I thought that the idea of having a secondary bypass in the Uptown area was a good one. There is a bottleneck that happens here. It’s very difficult. Traffic slows down here in Uptown to about two miles an hour,” Wong said.

Bottlenecks in the area, she said, are particularly acute in October.

“This is a perfect opportunity for safety as well as for better traffic circulation in town,” Wong said. “We would want to make sure we preserve the riparian nature of the creek around here, but I’m sure that can be done just as much as the bridge by Tlaquepaque is protected for the same reason.”