Two of the city’s biggest projects for Sedona in Motion are scheduled to begin in the next few months.
Currently, 18 projects have been completed with the Sedona in Motion program, with a value of $17.2 million, according to Public Works Director and Assistant City Manager Andy Dickey. Most of these projects are related to property acquisition as well as design of future projects, like Forest Road and Chapel Road.
Traffic and transit projects have been funded by a temporary half-cent sales tax that was projected to bring in $35 million over a 10-year period before expiring. Council voted last year to make that temporary tax permanent.
According to city staff, the tax has already been exceeded in collecting the goal for the first year. For the next three years of traffic projects, the program will be using $21 million.
“If we took all the projects that we anticipated when we first finished the transportation master plan, it has exceeded the $35 million,” Dickey said. “If you include transit in the same program, all projects together has exceed the $35 million, sowe will need additional funding.”
Forest Road Extension
The second round of bids for Forest Road will begin in February. According to city reports, the first round of bids was significantly over budget for the project. The initial estimated budget for this project was $2.8 million. The extension now sits at $4.4 million.
This project was marketed by the city as providing an alternative route bypassing the two roundabouts to Uptown, as well as providing more routes for emergency responders. The project also requires an Arizona Department of Transportation encroachment permit, as well as acquiring the property that enters 89A.
But the connection from 89A, west of the U.S. Post Office, through to Forest Road is also necessary for the city’s planned parking garage, which is scheduled to be completed by summer 2023. The garage will also include 10 electric vehicle chargers to promote electric vehicles in uptown, covered by Electrify America, a charging station network located all over the nation.
The project bids were originally expected to be closed by October 2021, with a December 2021 construction start date. With bids now being accepted in February, the construction is scheduled to begin in early March.
Chapel Road
According to city staff reports, “improved walkability was residents’ second-highest priority in the city’s 2017 Citizen Survey, and investment in other modes of travel is a key goal of the Sedona Community Plan.”
The Chapel Road project was their answer to this request.
There will be a shared-use walk and bike path on Chapel Road’s north side, between State Route 179 and Fox Road. There will also be additional parking near Mystic trailhead with the rest of the road lined with signs for no parking.
The Chapel Road construction is scheduled to begin in the winter or spring of this year. The budget sits at $560,000, with no property acquisition needed.
