We have covered the upcoming Verde Connect project, which plans to build a connector road from State Route 260 to Cornville Road with a bridge over the Verde River.
Spearheaded by Yavapai County District 2 Supervisor Tom Thurman and District 3 Supervisor Randy Garrison, Verde Connect is still in the preliminary stages, gathering community input about where would be best to place the road.
The map of potential routes looks a plate of colorful spaghetti. At its furthest west, it could start in Cottonwood, cross the Verde River upstream from its confluence with Oak Creek and stretch north connecting to Cornville Road just east of Verde Santa Fe.
At its furthest east, it could start a few miles west of State Route 260’s junction with Interstate 17, cross the Verde River in Middle Verde, then cut through U.S. Forest Service land and meet at the junction of Beaverhead Flat and Cornville Road.
There are at least 10 other routes between those two extremes and there may be even more once the public feedback process is complete.
While no Verde Valley community asked for such a project, a connection from State Route 260 to the Middle Verde community was among the many desired projects listed in the Verde Valley master transportation plan a few years ago. Thurman and Garrison applied for and won a $25 million grant to build the road and bridge, with costs over that paid for by Yavapai County.
If Yavapai County can get a massive federal grant for a road project no one asked for … surely Sedona can get some county funds for road projects we’ve demanded for years.
The arguments Yavapai County makes fly in the face of what Verde Connect is proposing.
Sedona and Village of Oak Creek residents have asked for a connection from Verde Valley School Road to Upper or Lower Red Rock Loop Roads. While some homeowners along Verde Valley School Road fear an increase in traffic, many more want an alternate route into West Sedona so they can avoid the parking lot that State Route 179 becomes on weekends. Such an alterÂnate route would allow older residents of the VOC to more quickly access the Sedona campus of Verde Valley Medical Center in West Sedona for medical treatment.
Even if some Middle Verde residents oppose the project, Garrison, Thurman and county officials plan to build Verde Connect through that neighborhood if it is deemed the best route.
Why do Verde Valley School Road bridge opponents get special treatment to oppose a proposed bridge over Oak Creek while Middle Verde residents get a proposed bridge forced on their community over their objections?
Other residents have said for years that a bridge connection from Verde Valley School Road to the Red Rock Loop Road would have to start somewhere off the end of Verde Valley School Road near Road Rock Crossing and that Yavapai County would never cut through USFS land to connect elsewhere west along the Red Rock Loop Road and preserve the crossing upstream.
Yet every possible route of Verde Connect cuts through untouched USFS land, some for several thousand feet, others for several miles. Why is it OK for the county to build a road through those pristine areas that likely will be little used, considering traffic on Cornville Road and State Route 260 moves fairly swiftly, but providing an alternate route to clogged State Route 179 is not in the county’s plans?
Sedona City Council should see Verde Connect as leverage to demand Yavapai County provide connecÂtion routes outside city limits and their jurisdiction that could help traffic inside our city, specifically State Route 179.
Likewise, Sedona City Council should pressure Coconino County to consider paving along Schnebly Hill Road to provide an alternate route from our most clogged area — the bridge over Oak Creek near Tlaquepaque — to Interstate 17.
The eastern side of Sedona is almost wholly in Coconino County. Uptown and the Gallery District provide Coconino County with massive amounts of tax revenue for which we receive very little in return. It’s time for the Sedona City Council to pressure our repreÂsentative, Coconino County District 3 Supervisor Matt Ryan, to provide us with services to improve traffic with funds or a road from outside the city’s jurisdiction using Verde Connect as a proof that no project is apparÂently impossible, even if it cuts through USFS land or a handful of neighbors object.
Christopher Fox Graham
Managing Editor
