The city of Sedona staff is hoping an alternative to a major component to the Sedona in Motion Transportation Plan will still address congestion at the busiest roundabout in town.
According to a city report, one of the projects that the city proposed consisted of putting in designated slip lanes on State Route 89A, as drivers approached the Y intersection off Cooks Hill, as well as on State Route 179 when approaching the Y and turning toward Uptown.
The Arizona Department of Transportation had agreed to fund half of the project. The city agreed to an anticipated contribution of $1.12 million as part of that intergovernmental agreement.
Had the slip lanes been installed, it would have allowed right-turning drivers to bypass the roundabout. Right turns would have been made more efficient because the slip lanes only require drivers to merge at the end of the lane rather than fully yielding to enter the roundabout, and the slip lanes would have removed those vehicles from the capacity of the roundabout.
In addition, the modification was expected to significantly benefit eastbound traffic that backs up on Cooks Hill.
The city implemented a trial of the northbound lane modifications from May to October 2020, conducting testing, modeling and analysis. However, city staff said they did not see enough of a benefit from that test and the project was modified to remove the slip lanes from the scope.
“It was determined that the cost of the improvements is not supported by the benefit,” City Engineer Andy Dickey told the Sedona City Council last October.
In a memo to the city, ADOT’s Mackenzie Kirby wrote, “After a thorough analysis of the data, the ADOT project team and city of Sedona did not see enough of a benefit from the dedicated right-turn lane test, which began in May and ended in early July, and the slip lane modeling, to continue moving forward with the project as previously scoped.
“As a result, the proposal to put a slip lane from State Route 89A from West Sedona to southbound State Route 179 through the ADOT property will not be pursued, no lanes will be added or changed, and there will be no encroachment on private property.”
Now, the project is focusing on improvements to signing, striping and minor pavement and concrete improvements. City staff are continuing to look for ways to improve efficiency in this area, as it is a known bottleneck during congested times.
During its meeting Tuesday, April 27, Sedona City Council approved spending approximately $700,000 on an alternative plan, $450,000 of which will be expended this fiscal year prior to construction. The current schedule has the project beginning in late August, with the majority of work being completed by the end of September, with final striping at the end of October.
Disruptive work is expected to occur at night or in the early morning hours when traffic is light, the report states.
