There are several spots around Sedona where traffic gets snarled during the busier times of the year — between Tlaquepaque and Tlaquepaque North on State Route 179 being one of them.
The city is working to help reduce the problem though its ongoing Sedona In Motion transportation plan.
During the July 23 Sedona City Council meeting, council gave unanimous direction to staff regarding one of four options presented to council. The pick is an open-air, shared-use path under the existing bridge by the Schnebly Hill Road roundabout connecting the two sides of State Route 179.
The purpose of the crossing is that when pedestrians cross in front of Tlaquepaque, traffic comes to a halt in both directions. But the city has had staff helping with pedestrian flow during peak periods as they allow groups to cross at once instead of the intermittent individual or two.
A feasibility report identified four crossing alternatives.
- Alternative 1 consisting of an underground tunnel at an estimated cost of $3.5 million
- Alternative 2 consisting of a pedestrian overpass at $2.5 million
- Alternative 3 consisting of an underpass at Oak Creek totaling $1.9 million
- Alternative 4 consisting of a high-intensity activated crosswalk traffic signal for $280,000.
Staff recommended Alternative 3 because “the overall impacts to adjacent project features would be less severe than with the other alternatives studied. The recommended alternative provides the functionality needed to meet the goals of SIM and improve multi-modal access for this regional facility.”
The installation of a tunnel or bridge-type crossing in this area of the corridor would separate pedestrians from the roadway and have benefits and objectives that include alleviating conflicts between pedestrians and motorists; improve safety; provide a more uniform flow of traffic; and improve traffic volume, the study said.
The recognized impacts of these alternatives, according to the report, include:
- Visual impacts on corridor related to structures.
- Impacts to existing culture (trees, landscaping, decorative walls and related elements.
- Encroachment of private property and need to acquire right-of-way and/or easement area.
- Potential impact on private commercial parking area.
- Potential impact to existing utility infrastructure.
- Temporary impacts to vehicle/pedestrian traffic and businesses during construction.
“Alternative 3 has the least amount of impacts on the existing corridor, it provides the added functionality of the shared-used path and has the least cost among the first three alternatives,” Engineering Supervisor Stephen Craver said.
In discussions with the Arizona Department of Transportation, Craver said the current crosswalk could be used during non-peak times of the year when pedestrian and vehicular traffic is lessened. But during those busier times the crosswalk would be blocked off and pedestrians would be diverted to the pathway under the bridge. And to eliminate jaywalking there will be either barriers along the edge of the roadway or something along the median, similar to what’s being installed in Uptown to prevent people from crossing illegally.
“By doing this, people wouldn’t have a choice but to use the under crossing,” Craver said.
Within the report it discusses the possibility of some day widening 179 in the area of Schnebly Hill roundabout to the 179/89A intersection. But for now, that’s on the back burner.
“Given the cost of that strategy it would chew up a large percentage of our sales tax revenue as part of the Sedona in Motion program,” Craver said. “What we want to do is build these smaller-cost improvements and see the benefit that we get and the ability to continue monitoring travel times and see how successful these strategies are. The widening may be necessary now or 20 years down the road.”
