Let there be light.
Not too much light; certainly not 10 streetlights — at least not yet.
But a stop light at the intersection of Highway 89A and Andante Drive, that’s OK, the Sedona City Council confirmed at its meeting Tuesday, June 10.
City Manager Eric Levitt presented the board with the Highway 89A Pedestrian Safety Committee’s 17 options to increase safety on Highway 89A.
Council also heard from advisory panel members Doug Blackwell and Arizona Department of Transportation District Engineer John Harper of Flagstaff.
By Alison Ecklund
Larson Newspapers
Let there be light.
Not too much light; certainly not 10 streetlights — at least not yet.
But a stop light at the intersection of Highway 89A and Andante Drive, that’s OK, the Sedona City Council confirmed at its meeting Tuesday, June 10.
City Manager Eric Levitt presented the board with the Highway 89A Pedestrian Safety Committee’s 17 options to increase safety on Highway 89A.
Council also heard from advisory panel members Doug Blackwell and Arizona Department of Transportation District Engineer John Harper of Flagstaff.
The panel’s short-term options include things like reducing the speed limit between Airport Road and Dry Creek Road from 40 mph to 35 mph; enforcing all road user laws, like jaywalking; and bringing business signs into compliance with dark sky ordinances.
The council approved all six short-term options and one long-term option, 5-2. Councilwoman Nancy Scagnelli and Councilman Ramon Gomez were the two opposing votes.
The only long-term option approved was the traffic signal at Andante, with associated crosswalks and low-pressure sodium lighting.
According to Levitt, the city would contribute about $150,000 for the stop light at Andante in about 18 to 24 months.
The motion slated the remaining five long-term options to be looked at as the city develops its redevelopment plan for around 2012, which may call for roundabouts or medians.
One of the most controversial long-term options was the installation of about 10 streetlights between Harmony Drive and Madole Road in combination with another proposal — raised medians.
“This compromise was seen as a package,” Levitt told council after they approved only short-term options and one stop light.
“If you break the package apart, ADOT will have to probably go back and review. They probably can’t respond tonight,” he said.
Harper told council that the 10 lights were part of the compromise package, and if council didn’t approve them, even the short-term options may be off the table.
In August 2007, ADOT proposed 76 streetlights along Highway 89A after the city addressed it with concerns regarding fatal vehicle/pedestrian
accidents in West Sedona.
After residents and Keep Sedona Beautiful members expressed concerns and displeasure with the 76 proposed lights, the council requested the formation of the advisory panel.
Although ADOT was offering nearly $2 million to install the 76 streetlights, Harper said he wasn’t sure how much funding ADOT could get for the new proposals.
“A year ago in June, we had only one option on the table. All we heard was we’re going to have 76 streetlights,” KSB President Barbara Litrell said.
“We at KSB are pleased by the work that was done by the committee … I think we’ve come a
long way and the committee has really had
an opportunity to see what are the real improvements.”
Council’s concern with the suggested medians was that they would limit left-hand turns, which would ultimately affect business owners on the corridor.
“Accessibility is one of the biggest issues to our business community,” Sedona Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jennifer Wesselhoff told the council.
“Roadway medians may be a little harder to sell, especially if we’re looking at no left-turn access,” she said.
A study done in 1996, showed medians in a roadway don’t actually cause a great loss in business, Director of Community Developement John O’Brien said.
When the city tried to implement medians in 1996, there was opposition, O’Brien said, which he thinks could be diminished by educating business owners.
One of Scagnelli’s concerns with the medians is that sometimes it’s so dark that if people don’t know the barriers are already there, they might not see them, she said, until they get to the middle of the road.
Scagnelli’s other concern was if 10 lights were put only between Harmony Drive and Madole Road, drivers would go from dark to light, and back to dark rather quickly.
“When you go to a dark, then light, then dark road, that’s generally not a good thing,” Chuck Gillick, ADOT traffic engineer confirmed. “If the medians are installed, I think those lights could go away at that point.”
