On June 24 the Sedona City Council unanimously voted to reconsider its June 10 5-2 decision on 89A pedestrian safety, even though some council members said they didn’t understand why ADOT felt its previous vote fell short of resolving pedestrian safety.

Sedona ‘lights’ politicking running out of time

by Cyndy Hardy

SEDONA, AZ – June 25, 2008 – All political tap-dancing aside, it seems Sedona has an ultimatum: find community consensus on pedestrian safety along a dangerous 2-mile stretch of Hwy. 89A in West Sedona before the Arizona Department of Transportation steps in and makes a decision that could result in, at worst, 76 high-sodium street lights.

“ADOT is not going to back away and let the city do what it wants,” said City Manager Eric Levitt, perhaps meaning how political adversaries can make the most contentious local political issues drag on for decades.

More than two years ago, after five pedestrian deaths since 2001, this reporter asked state and city officials how many more had to die before someone did something about pedestrian safety in West Sedona.

Simultaneously, resident K.B. Bren, who witnessed the 2001 death of a German tourist, organized a grassroots movement, Citizens for Safety, and collected hundreds of signatures urging the city to do something.

At that time, ADOT officials firmly stated they would not reduce the 40-mph speed limit and would not install crosswalks because the area did not meet state engineering criteria to do so.

2006 was an election year, and pedestrian safety became a major campaign issue. The issue gathered steam and city officials asked ADOT to look into possible solutions.

Long-term redevelopment planning for West Sedona was in its early stages and the city was specifically looking for more immediate solutions.

Chuck Gillick, ADOT traffic engineer, gathered accident data with help from Bren and other residents, which resulted in ADOT’s recommendation for 76 high-sodium street lights in West Sedona.

The City Council voted to accept ADOT’s plan. Then-Mayor Pud Colquitt and then-Vice Mayor Jerry Frey have said the council approved the lights knowing they could negotiate for the type of lights before they were installed, having recently completed a similar negotiation for lights in the Hwy. 179 Improvement Project.

The public did not oppose the Hwy. 179 lights, but people came out in force against the 76 lights approved for Hwy. 89A, saying they would destroy the city’s treasured dark skies.

ADOT and the city went back to the table, forming an advisory committee to study lighting alternatives. Mr. Levitt chose the committee members from an array of city and state officials, residents at large, and dark-sky advocates. The committee quickly shifted its focus from lighting to pedestrian safety.

By late February 2008, the committee had drafted a report of recommendations that all but eliminated street lights as a short-term solution. Mr. Levitt believed the report did not reflect consensus of the whole committee, stating some members were not at what was supposed to be the committee’s final meeting at which lighting was taken off the table.

Mr. Levitt announced he would not support the draft report, sparking a flurry of heated emails and another committee meeting.

ADOT had already successfully applied for about $2 million in federal funds for its original 76-light proposal. The funding was tied to that proposal, however, ADOT officials indicated the federal money could be used for a modified plan if the plan met safety criteria, specifically a combination of lights, medians and pedestrian barriers throughout the corridor.

At its final meeting on April 10, the committee – including ADOT officials – struck a compromise to add a recommendation for about 10 street lights for a segment of the highway corridor where most pedestrian accidents and deaths occurred. The compromise also included pedestrian barriers and center medians.

The next step was for the City Council to sign off on the recommendations.

On May 27, newly-elected council members took their seats. On June 10, the committee report was put to a vote.

In spite of warnings from Mr. Levitt and ADOT officials that altering the committee’s recommendation would threaten the federal funding, the council voted 5-2 to put the 10 lights and barriers/medians into the long-range redevelopment plan.

“In my opinion, those items weren’t approved,” Mr. Levitt said.

Importantly, ADOT officials saw it that way, too. District Engineer John Harper reportedly told Mr. Levitt that ADOT would review the city’s decision internally and get back to the city manager with how the state intended to proceed.

Ultimately, Hwy. 89A is a state road and, although it intends to work with the city, ADOT has the final say on how pedestrian safety is remedied.

Sedona’s redevelopment plan is years away; officials estimate it won’t be complete until 2011 or 2012.

By bringing ADOT to the table, the agency conducted studies that found Hwy. 89A to be in the top five percent of Arizona’s most dangerous highways. The agency must address the issue according to its own timeline regardless of Sedona’s political in-fighting.

Mr. Gillick said it is possible ADOT could come back with the 76 lights.

Shortly after the June 10 meeting, Councilman Dan Surber requested a reconsideration of the council vote. It comes down to whether the city is doing enough to ensure pedestrian safety, Mr. Surber said at the June 24 meeting.

Mr. Levitt expected ADOT would have delivered its position before the council discussed the reconsideration, but he said the agency decided to wait until the City Council made its next move.

ADOT also determined that the agency’s top official, Director Victor Mendez, must sign-off on whatever ADOT does with the city’s action, according to Mr. Levitt.

The Sedona City Council unanimously voted to reconsider its June 10 5-2 decision, even though some council members said they didn’t understand why ADOT felt its previous vote fell short of resolving pedestrian safety.

Mr. Levitt laid it out for them.

“I think [ADOT] would like a more specific timeline; and what you passed could create more safety issues than what it helps,” Mr. Levitt said. “I think they perceive that the city went against them; and I can’t disagree.”

Councilwoman Nancy Scagnelli, who voted in the minority on June 10, indicated she didn’t hear about the expert testimony given by state, police and fire officials on the safety committee that contradicted the committee’s final report until she read about it in local media.

She subsequently read police reports that stated lighting was a factor in at least three of the five deaths.

Ms. Scagnelli said the information was not in the council’s material for the June 10 meeting and that perhaps the newer council members did not have enough background on the issue when they voted to change the committee’s recommendations.

Councilman Cliff Hamilton took offense, saying he had attended many meetings on the subject since 2006, including some of the committee meetings. Yet he seemingly contradicted himself by saying the council had acted in good faith, but that “maybe we didn’t listen carefully” on June 10.

“I’m disappointed we didn’t do our homework last time,” Mr. Hamilton said.

© 2008 Cyndy Hardy. This article may not be reproduced, republished or distributed without written permission from the author. Contact the author at cyndyhardy@msn.com.

Related articles:

From light back to dark on 89A

Sedona City Council may reconsider ‘lights’ vote

Shedding more light on 89A

Sedona City Council to consider 89A safety recommendations

89A street light proposal for Sedona condensed but not curbed

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

Lights out in Sedona

Community rejects ADOT 89A pedestrian lighting plan

[Home Page] [News Home Page] [Back to Community Page]