Sedona City Councilor Barbara Litrell

Sedona AZ–I voted in favor of the route transfer of 89A in West Sedona after 4 years of involvement  with the issue of 89A safety and ADOT’s proposed solution of continuous roadway lighting. It was one of the issues that motivated me to run for City Council.

When ADOT proposed 76 lights in June 2007, the community was aghast at the idea of continuous roadway lighting and wanted to know why ADOT was doing this. It was documented that the pedestrian deaths had occurred in the vicinity of Andante Drive where the City had requested a traffic light for years and ADOT had refused. ADOT said they were recommending lights for safety reasons based on their May 2006 report. However, that report states that 86% of the accidents and injuries are daytime and the safest way to cross the street is at a signalized intersection. It became increasingly clear that the  ADOT continuous lighting solution was proposed because it was free with Federal Hwy funds.

When I and the rest of our new City Council were seated in May 2010 we passed a resolution opposing continuous roadway lighting and urging ADOT to work with us on 24-hour safety measures. ADOT countered by proposing a route transfer.

Just as in life when one door closes, another opens, this new situation needed to be evaluated to see what opportunities it presented to Sedona. Aware that ADOT has the right by Arizona Statute to abandon roadways that no longer serve the state system but function more as local roadways, and knowing that ADOT has a defined strategy to increase the number and speed of route transfers in the state, I voted for the route transfer based on the following major considerations:

Top of the list was that safety on 89A in West Sedona must be improved day and night. The City can now work with an engineering firm as well as residents and business owners to develop the specific measures that will improve round the clock safety for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians. The volume of traffic and the random pedestrian crossings demand better solutions than continuous lighting. The plan could even include sidewalk lights similar to those uptown or on Hwy 179 or maybe even something more state of the art. Keep in mind that ADOT does not provide that type of lighting; the City of Sedona paid for those lights. The City can now choose from a broad range of effective 24-hour safety solutions.

Second on my list of considerations was whether the ADOT financial package was sound and workable. The City staff negotiated a $15.5 million dollar package from ADOT. The City will receive $10.6 million in cash up front by June 30 or there is no deal, no route transfer. The cash will be placed in a restricted account for future roadway operations, maintenance and improvements. The remaining $4.9 million will be contributed by ADOT in the form of repaving 89A, installing the long awaited signalized intersection at Andante Drive , and striping for bike lanes.  The current financial condition of the City is sound with 100% reserves in the General Fund, strong reserves in all other funds and the probability of a million dollar surplus at the end of this fiscal year in June. The future requires good planning and management so that in 2028 and 2043 when repaving of the road again will be required, the funds will be there to do it. Is there a risk?  There’s always some risk in a decision, but when I recently read in the Rural Transportation Advocacy Council Transportation Funding Issue Brief that “The State’s draft five-year highway construction program indicates that there will be virtually no funding for major construction projects outside of the Phoenix and Tucson areas in 2016,” it confirmed for me that we made the right decision for Sedona. 

Thirdly, the prospect of local control became more attractive as the process moved forward. The Planning and Zoning Commission’s unanimous support for a route transfer drove home the benefits of local control. The City of Sedona now has the unique opportunity with input from our businesses and citizens to control our destiny in the short term with better safety improvements and in the long term with a comprehensive planning process for redevelopment and beautification of the 89A corridor. This process would be almost impossible without owning the roadway or the 32 ft of ADOT right of way on either side of the roadway. During the public outreach, more and more residents in the West Sedona corridor expressed their desire to see a more beautiful roadway corridor as the gateway to Sedona from Cottonwood .

Lastly, outreach to and feedback from the public was also very important to me. I attended public meetings, studied the surveys commissioned by the city and the surveys of other organizations, some of which have a majority saying don’t take the road, and some with a majority saying take the road. I met with individuals and groups of people for 6 weeks prior to the vote. Evaluating all of the feedback, it became clear to me that the more people became informed about the proposal, the more likely they were to favor it as witnessed by the majority of people who spoke in favor of the transfer at the council meetings on February 9 and February 22. It would have been ideal to have a much longer time to educate everyone in the community, but the deadline came to make the decision.

In the end I made the decision based on facts, information and the informed opinions of staff, residents, business owners and myself as a Sedona resident and an elected representative to the City Council. I believe in Sedona and I believe we have the opportunity to create a safer, more beautiful roadway which will benefit residents, tourists and businesses in the years ahead.  I hope we can all work together to move Sedona forward.

The opinions expressed above are my own and do not represent those of other members of the City Council.