As a way to improve both vehicular and pedestrian flow along State Route 179, the city has been proposing for the past two years an underpass walkway near Tlaquepaque. While the design phase is nearing completion, a portion of the plan has hit a bit of a roadblock.
During city staff’s quarterly update to the Sedona City Council on the Sedona in Motion projects, the underpass issue was discussed for about 45 minutes of the three-hour meeting. The rendering of what the underpass bridge near Oak Creek would look like was shown, which was met with approval by council.
Councilwoman Jessica Williamson brought up the fact that it now appears that the crosswalk between Tlaquepaque and Tlaquepaque North will not be closed permanently to pedestrians as had been previously discussed. City Engineer Andy Dickey said they are reviewing the benefits of closing the crosswalk completely or leaving it open. The owners of Tlaquepaque have expressed their strong desire to have the crosswalk remain.
“What we’re modeling now is to restrict the crosswalk with a timing schedule,” Dickey said.
It would be similar to the timed crosswalk in Uptown. This would allow the traffic to flow at a minimum of three minutes at a time, allowing pedestrians to create a queue on either side of the roadway. They would then all cross at the same time as opposed to intermittent pedestrian crossings, which stop traffic each time.
The design contract for this project was approved by Council in September 2019. Following a temporary suspension of design activities to access impacts of the pedestrian pathway on existing Sycamore trees, the design, reinitiated in March, recently reached the 90% completion milestone. The plans are currently under review by city staff, utility agencies and the Arizona Department of Transportation. Final plans and specifications for construction bidding are anticipated by the end of July.
Vice Mayor Scott Jablow said he has been in favor of the underpass since it was first introduced. But he said it was his understanding that the various proposals that were originally on the table all included the closing of the crosswalk. He also expressed concern after Dickey said that the city will still need to have traffic control assistants on site for the crosswalk during busy times even after the underpass in complete.
“Is Tlaquepaque going to incur any permanent costs for our staff?” Jablow asked. “It’s my understanding we were going to eliminate this {crosswalk]. You and your staff came up with multiple alternatives — going above, going below and this all with the intention of getting rid of the crosswalk. So if we’re keeping the crosswalk, I would expect Tlaquepaque to be paying for our staff because there has to be a reason we’re keeping the crosswalk.”
Dickey said it’s yet to be determined if ADOT, which owns the roadway, would be in favor of eliminating the crosswalk. But, he added ADOT appears to be in favor of some type of restriction at the crosswalk. This could mean there would be some type of crosswalk closure during certain times of the day. City Attorney Kurt Christianson added that the city could not require Tlaquepaque to pay for any city staff at that location since they are not the ones requesting the underpass.
Other SIM projects updated to council by staff include:
SIM-3A Uptown Parking Garage
Project design for Uptown Parking Garage was initiated on Jan. 13 with the architectural firm Gabor Lorant Architects. Since that time the project has progressed and is nearing the completion of the scoping phase. At this phase of the project design plans for the site and building are beginning to take shape.
SIM-11 Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements
Currently there are several projects that include Shared Use Paths under construction: Dry Creek Road; Sanborn/ Thunder Mountain Road; Sunset Drive; and Shelby Drive. The Posse Ground Parking/Soldiers Pass Road is currently being bid for construction. Other shared use pathway projects, such as Chapel Road, Navoti Drive to Dry Creek Road, and Pinon Drive are complete relative to design and pending construction as budgets permit.
SIM-5A Portal/Ranger/Brewer Road Connections
The intent of these improvements is to require vehicles that enter the parking lot to exit out to Ranger Road and provide signage for vehicles coming from the south side of Soldier Wash to use that exit if their destination is West Sedona or Uptown. Although design is nearly complete for the Ranger Road connection through the Tlaquepaque parking lot and the city sewer lift station, and construction of these improvements was pending acquisition of the necessary access easement, implementation of this project is currently on hold while staff continues to coordinate with Tlaquepaque about possible alternatives to alleviate congestion on State Route 179 between Ranger Road and Schnebly Hill Road.
Staff is also now coordinating with Los Abrigados to provide a connection from its property through the city-owned Ranger Station property to Brewer Road. Prior to finalizing design for the project, staff has presented the project to the Historical Preservation Commission and the Planning and Zoning Commission, as it will require an amendment to the existing Ranger Station Park Master Plan. Feedback from those meetings will be presented to Council at this meeting.
SIM- 1 , Uptown Roadwa y Improvements
Construction on the project initiated on June 3, 2019 and was substantially complete on Sept. 14, 2020. Significant travel time benefit has been realized for southbound SR 89A. Northbound delay continues to be an issue.
SIM- 4A, Y Roundabout Modernization
Modeling and analysis of the two-month testing of the directional signing and turn restrictions did not indicate enough of a benefit to continue moving forward with the project as previously scoped. As a result, the proposal to put a slip lane from SR 89A from West Sedona to southbound SR 179 through the ADOT property will not be pursued, no lanes will be added or changed, and there will be no encroachment on private property. The project has been modified to focus on modernization enhancements to the roundabout and adjacent roadway including signing, striping, and pavement rehabilitation to improve safety and the efficiency of the roundabout operations.
SIM-5B Forest Road Connection
Design of the project stands at 100% complete. Plans are currently under review by staff, ADOT and utility agencies. Acquisitions for right-of-way, and easements in support of the new roadway are currently in process and being coordinated through the City Attorney’s office. Staff is anticipating final sealed plans and specifications mid to late June and initiation of a public solicitation for sealed bids for construction in July.
SIM-7/8 Enhanced Transit Service
Citizen surveys, including the most recent budget survey, have consistently shown a majority of the community supporting transit including supporting an extension of the existing transportation sales tax beyond the 10-year timeframe in order to pay for transit. At the May 11 council meeting, council directed staff to proceed with the trailhead shuttle and microtransit plan as presented, to look at additional parking opportunities, and to evaluate the carbon offset of gasoline versus hybrid vehicles. Staff was also directed to proceed with steps required to permanently extend the transportation sales tax to fund implementation of the transit system.
SIM-10 West Sedona Signal Improvements
At the urging of city staff, the ADOT Northcentral district has begun evaluating the performance of signals in West Sedona. Based on vehicular volumes at the Coffee Pot and Rodeo intersections, ADOT is considering removing one of the crosswalks on SR 89A at each intersection, which would increase green time on SR 89A by 20 seconds on each cycle. This project has been on hold and staff is awaiting further information from ADOT.
SIM-12, Traveler Information
ADOT has been displaying travel times to Sedona on the I-17 corridor since December 2018. Staff continues to engage ADOT to ensure that the information provided to travelers is meaningful and accomplishes the objectives of the city.
