The city of Sedona and the Arizona Department of Transportation have been unable to confirm whether ADOT has given the city official permission to conduct periodic closures of the State Route 179 crosswalk at Tlaquepaque.

The city has been closing the crosswalk with movable gates, directing pedestrians to the underpass beneath State Route 179. The distance across SR 179 via the crosswalk is about 70 feet, while the distance between the same points via the underpass is about 560 feet.

State Law

As ADOT has jurisdiction over SR 179, the city is not permitted to close the crosswalk without ADOT permission, per state law.

Arizona Revised Statutes Title 28 limits how the city of Sedona may regulate the movement of pedestrians:

• ▪ ARS §28-627 provides that cities may regulate the movement of vehicle traffic by means of municipal employees, but provides no authority for a city to control the movement of pedestrians.
  
• ▪ ARS §28-791(B) provides that cities may prohibit pedestrians from crossing a highway or road “except in a crosswalk.”
  
• ▪ ARS §28-793(A) permits pedestrians to cross roads at any point other than a marked crosswalk as long as they yield the right of way to vehicles.
  
• ▪ ARS §28-793(B) permits pedestrians to cross roads at places where an overhead crossing or tunnel has been provided as long as they yield the right-of-way to vehicles.
  

Encroachment Permit

The ADOT permit which the city received to build the underpass required that “the at-grade crosswalk located on SR179 between Portal Lane and Schnebly Hill Road will remain until such time as a pedestrian crosswalk warrant analysis is performed by the city … If ADOT determines that the crossing is not warranted, the city shall remove the at-grade crosswalk.”

If ADOT determines the crosswalk to be required, the city will then be required to conduct a study on whether an electronic pedestrian signal should be added.

City of Sedona

“We are still in the process of the draft warrant analysis data with adjacent landowners,” Director of Public Works Kurt Harris said on May 29 when asked to provide the results of the analysis. “The city is not able to share publicly the preliminary data until all parties have agreed to the gap analysis data. I cannot provide an estimate of when the resultant findings will be available to share because the two other parties must agree.”

“We only close the crosswalk and direct pedestrians to the underpass during peak traffic to alleviate congestion,” Harris said.

“ADOT and adjacent businesses have and will be fully aware of the city operations at the crosswalk operations,” Harris said. “Everyone knows that the crosswalk closes on its own when traffic comes to a standstill.”

Harris did not provide a list of the dates and times the city had closed the crosswalk in the last six months, saying that “would be a heavy lift. In general, traffic congestion is from Friday through Sunday and holidays from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Except when there is inclement weather it remains open. For example, there were entire weekends during spring break when the crosswalk never closed.”

ADOT

When asked if ADOT had given permission for temporary closures of the crosswalk, or if ADOT might give permission for any closure without a completed warrant analysis, ADOT spokesman Doug Nintzel said, “The warrant analysis is required under ADOT’s Traffic Guidelines and Processes, which is our guidebook for items such as encroachment permits for work within the state’s right of way. Our regional staff is prepared to get an update from Sedona in the coming weeks about the crosswalk. That includes closures related to the city’s study work and those done at other times.”

When the NEWS again asked Nintzel to answer if ADOT had given the city permission to close the crosswalk, Nintzel said, “We’re going to let our staff in Flagstaff first get an update on what measures the city has taken or still plans to take with the crosswalk. They talk with the city on a regular basis and will do so again soon.”