It may have been one of the easiest decisions the Sedona City Council was asked to make in terms of the ongoing Sedona in Motion project.

At hand was city staff requesting direction from council regarding the look of the nearly 2,300-foot-long median on State Route 89A from Forest Road extending past La Petite Motel. Council was given three options and, with little fanfare, they unanimously voted on one. 
During the Tuesday, Feb. 12, meeting, Engineering Supervisor Stephen Craver said his presentation wasn’t an overall SIM update but instead he was going to focus on the Uptown Roadway Improvements Project. With an estimated start date of May, it’s the first SIM project that will be constructed.
Craver said it was important to involve the public on what design elements the median should feature. Late last year, the city reached out to the community and received 27 submissions, which ranged from simple descriptions to detailed ideas and pictures. Staff went through the
submissions and found the following common themes:

•  Artistic, aesthetically pleasing barriers.
•  Decorative, but not distracting.
•  Ties to nature and a focus on native plants and/or animals.
•  Sculptural qualities or elements.
•  Natural colors that fit in with the surroundings.

Staff used these themes and elements to inform the consultant on possible design options for the median, Craver said. The panels in the designs are intended to vary in height from approximately 30 to 42 inches to prohibit people from climbing over.
As part of the SIM project, Uptown will have two southbound lanes coming from Oak Creek Canyon and one northbound lane. The median will deter left turns as well as jaywalking — both of which slow traffic. Four of the five current crosswalks will remain and a roundabout will be placed near Art Barn Road. On-street metered parking will remain.
Council was happy with the median’s aesthetics and design, which will also feature varying types of trees and scrubs, as well as sculptures of animals and birds native to the area.
Councilman Bill Chisholm questioned whether double yellow line striping and signage would be enough to deter left turns and jaywalking without the need for the median at a much greater cost and less time to complete.
“I feel like we’ve already done that,” City Engineer Andy Dickey said. “We gave up on doing that because it wasn’t effective. We weren’t getting the results we were trying to get.”