Following little to no traffic and parking issues for the past two months, Sedona made up for lost time over the Memorial Day weekend.
“The Memorial Day weekend is annually a busy time for the city of Sedona and it was not surprising to have a large volume of guests visiting our community,” Sedona Police Sgt. Michael Dominguez said.
SPD reported a complaint of 28 cars lined up to get into the Soldier Pass trailhead for access to Seven Sacred Pools and Devil’s Kitchen.
In addition, there were 280 cars lined up on Saturday, May 23, along Dry Creek Road with four blocking traffic. There were also 80 vehicles parked along Soldier Pass Road near Posse Grounds Park.
Dominguez said over the weekend there were 16 parking citations issued for various violations. Their records department is still processing the weekend data, so it is possible this number will increase.
Some of the data was gathered by Sedona police through funds provided by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. This requires agencies that receive GOHS grant funding to report traffic stops and citation information on various holidays during the year, specific to DUI, speed and seat-belt enforcement, Chief Charles Husted said.
Parking issues are not part of GOHS reporting. Parking violations on Dry Creek Road that are within the city limits are handled by the Sedona Police Department.
Sedona City Council discussed the topic of the weekend’s traffic and parking briefly during the council meeting Tuesday, May 26.
City Manager Justin Clifton said traffic on State Route 179 at Chapel Road on Saturday, May 23, was 95% of what it was during the same day of last year’s Memorial Day weekend. In addition, State Route 89A traffic passing Cooks Hill was at 88% compared to the same day last year.
In terms of the spike in visitors, Clifton said it’s a combination of variables including the fact that the state’s stay-at-home order has been lifted along with pent-up demand after many were at home for the last two months.
“I speculate that some people just really need to get out and do something a little bit normal,” Clifton said. “But the activity we saw over the weekend may not continue into June.”
Husted said he anticipates these types of issues during the summer as more and more visitors return to Sedona.
“With our state moving through the reopening process, we fully anticipate parking and other concerns associated with an influx of visitors to increase through summer,” Husted said. “We will continue to proactively patrol the more popular locations and look for opportunities to deter issues before they arise.
