Sedona, AZ — By Tommy Acosta…

I just hate admitting being wrong about anything, especially about my political observations and digressions.

Though I’m tempted to say I was wrong that the Fed’s response on Barbara Litrell’s request for a NEPA study put a monkey wrench into the plans to put the 76 or more lights on 89A, I will not succumb to temptation and stick to my guns.

If anything, before Mrs. Litrell sent her request to the Feds, the NEPA study could have breezed by along with the scope and design study by ADOT and quietly been approved by the Feds with no community input or discussion. Now, thanks to her letter, quite the opposite could occur.

According to Rod Wigman, a spokesman for ADOT, “Nothing is written in stone except that plans are moving forward to improve safety on 89A.”

He said any time government funds are to be used in a manner that impacts the environment, such studies are required.

He also said community input is not always considered. “Not all NEPA processes involve public input,” he said. In this case, in Sedona, thanks to Mrs. Litrell’s inquiry, the community can be assured it will have a say and there will be public input, an assurance the public did not have prior to the Fed response to her letter.

The Feds indicated they will weigh all sides of the issue and seek a plan that best addresses safety concerns. This could be interpreted that the Feds seek safety improvements on 89A during the day and well as at night. “Public safety is our number one priority,” Mr. Wigman said.

He said the money for the project remains in the Fed budget and will not be released until scoping, a design study and the NEPA study are approved by the Feds.

The Feds have a final say on what needs to happen to meet the safety standards under which the safety funds may be released.

This opens up a whole new dialogue on the lights.

Mr. Wigman did not indicate the amount of time such a study would take or how the Feds may react.

“There are lots of different things they have to look at,” he said.

Although the NEPA study does not stop the effort to put up those lights, in its scope it most definitely offers opportunity for those seeking stronger-safety measures to have their day in court.

Mr. Wigman said if the funds are released for the lights, bids will go out to contractors. The lowest bid will receive the money and the chosen contractor will purchase the necessary equipment and install it. He said specific factories make specific types of lights and that ADOT deals with one specific company that makes the standard lights and poles it uses throughout Arizona.

It’s a waiting game now. It is a matter of how long the opponents of the lights can keep the proponents at bay and if they can convince the Feds there is a better way.

No one knows how long the environmental-impact part of the study will take and how much testimony will be considered but the longer it takes the bigger the chance the budgeted funds could be used elsewhere.

There is also the possibility the Feds will embrace the recommendations of the 89 Safety Committee and fully fund all the enhancements, including roundabouts and meridians, and additional-traffic lights, as originally recommended.

The saga continues.