According to the city, the cost to implement these short-term recommendations is minimal, save the installation of a traffic signal at Andante intersection, with associated crosswalks and lighting, which will cost the city somewhere between $100,000-$150,000.

The approved recommendations were part of a broader package that included longer-term recommendations such as photo speed enforcement cameras, raised medians, refuge islands, a pedestrian activated crosswalk, and up to 10 street lights at locations with the highest level of pedestrian/motorist crash activity.  According to reports, the cost to implement these longer- term recommendations could be as high as $4 million.

The purpose of these short and long-term recommendations is to offer a safer and more aesthetically pleasing alternative to the 76 light poles originally proposed by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) that, according to opponents, would have also threatened Sedona's dark skies.

Said Mayor Rob Adams, "The original safety proposal by ADOT for 89A was one of the most contentious issues during my campaign, and I heard the community loud and clear that they didn't want 76 light poles lighting up the sky."

However, instead of approving the longer-term recommendations, the city council decided to include them for consideration as part of the Master Community Redevelopment Plan.

"How can we approve [raised medians, for example,] when we don't even know what we want 89A to look like in the future?" Mayor Adams said. "Maybe we want roundabouts. The entire configuration of 89A may change.  We may or may not need 10 new lights... If we implement these [long term] recommendations now, we might end up tearing everything out in the future... It makes no sense... Look at SR179.  It was going to be a four-lane highway.  Think what would have happened if that's what we got."

There is some confusion, however, over what the city's cost will be now that it has foregone the 76 light pole recommendation (according to Mayor Adams, the original city council approval for 76 light poles has not been formally rescinded).

According to City Manager Eric Levitt, the city is seeking outside funding for the long-term solutions but there is no guarantee the city will get it.

At issue is the loss of $1.8 million that ADOT would have received as a federal grant to install the 76 light poles; and other than the cost to maintain the light poles (including electricity), the city would have incurred no other material costs if it chose that path.

Will the city still be willing to implement the longer-term solutions if ADOT does not bear a substantial portion of the cost and/or if no federal grant funding is available? And what will this mean for safety along 89A?

Said Mayor Adams, "The 76 light pole solution was going to offer marginal safety benefits.  The short-term solutions will get [the city] a long way towards improving safety along 89A.  Do we want even more solutions? Of course we do but I'm not going to vote to approve those solutions until we know the bigger picture -- what we want 89A to look like in the future."

Related articles:

At the "Y" in the road, the city changes course

Council approves 89A Safety Committee recommendations

Sedona City Council to consider 89A safety recommendations

89A Pedestrian Safety Advisory Panel makes draft recommendations for highway safety in Sedona