Lights out in Sedona

Advisory Panel to make recommendations to Sedona City Council to improve safety on 89A in West Sedona

by Staff Writer | Sedona.biz

Sedona, AZ - At the January 23rd meeting of the Highway 89A Safety Advisory Panel, the committee of 13, led by facilitator Russ Hanson, arrived at consensus that ADOT's proposed 76 street lights along 89A from Dry Creek Road to Airport Rd would not be among their recommendations to the City Council to improve pedestrian safety on 89A. About 20 members of the public attended the meeting and were visibly relieved by the decision.

Charged with recommending short term and long term safety solutions, the group did reach consensus to recommend to Council that, in the short term, a traffic signal be placed at the Andante intersection along 89A in West Sedona, that the speed limit be lowered from Dry Creek Rd to Soldiers Pass Rd with additional enforcement measures adopted including photo enforcement, that jaywalking tickets continue to be issued (tickets were given out in 2007 for the first time in 5 years), to purchase, with the help of Keep Sedona Beautiful and their efforts, 2 or 3 more "Your speed is...." signs to encourage drivers to slow down, that speed and pedestrian signage be enhanced, that businesses along 89A be required to adopt compliant lighting to reduce glare for motorists and crossing pedestrians and that a public awareness and education program be initiated.

For the long term, the group recommended that the 89A corridor be redesigned and options including medians, bike lanes, and targeted sidewalk lighting be part of the plan.

While streetlights along 89A were listed to be the first item for discussion at the three hour meeting, Doug Blackwell, community representative on the panel, suggested that, since ADOT had completed their study of the Andante intersection to determine if a traffic signal was warranted, perhaps that study could be the first subject discussed.

ADOT's Chuck Gillick reported that the recent study of the Andante area showed that the intersection of 89A and Andante Drive does indeed warrant a traffic signal. “While the numbers were close,” Gillick said, “ based on the development in the area and given the history of collisions at that intersection, we’ve decided to go ahead with the City as a partner to install a traffic signal there.” The previous study of the area was done in 2001 and Sedona’s population has grown by more than 15% since that time and the number of tourists and businesses in the area has grown as well. A traffic signal will take about 2 years to install, according to Gillick, but the group urged ADOT to see how it could be done sooner.

Several members of the public commented after the meeting that, if ADOT had done a study of Andante two years ago when the first discussions about the need to improve safety on 89A came up as a result of several pedestrian fatalities in the area, the signal might already have been installed.

Following the discussion of the traffic signal, the group moved on to discuss lowering the speed limit to 35 mph from Dry Creek Road to Soldiers Pass Rd. Gillick said ADOT had not completed the traffic study yet, but it appeared that 35mph would be the recommended speed. Sedona Police Chief Joe Vernier said he favored the 35mph speed limit and has already been looking into additional enforcement tools including photo enforcement. The group agreed that they would recommend to Council that the speed be lowered to 35mph and would support enforcement measures developed by the Sedona Police Department. While the traffic signal might take up to two years to install, the change in the speed limit could take effect 30-60 days after Council review. Eric Levitt, City Manager, said he would also like to see more of the mobile unit speed reminders around the city. Each unit costs approximately $1,200.

Another issue raised by International Dark Sky Association Technical Advisor Pete Strasser was the number of non-compliant lights he observed from businesses along 89A, lights that produce glare for oncoming motorists and crossing pedestrians. The group agreed to see how compliant lighting enforcement can be improved by the City of Sedona.

In the discussion about lights, there was no consensus to recommend the original ADOT continuous roadway lighting proposal which was approved 7-0 by the Sedona City Council in June 2007. The safety advisory panel was formed at the suggestion of Councilman Rob Adams as a result of citizen outrage at the decision by Council and after Keep Sedona Beautiful board members did a presentation to Council on alternatives to improve safety without sacrificing dark skies with sky glow and light pollution. KSB's recommendations included a traffic signal at Andante, lowering the speed limit, improved signage and a public awareness program. Over 150 people showed up at the August 15, 2007 council meeting to say "No" to 76 street lights along 89A in West Sedona.

Cliff Ochser, owner of Evening Sky Tours and a community representative on the panel, stressed the distinction between darkness and visibility. He said, “The question of visibility is about creating contrast.” The panel also agreed to explore the idea of “points of conflict” lighting suggested by Doug Blackwell based on his review of such lighting projects in California which has eliminated continuous roadway lighting from their highways in favor of more reflective and contrast producing methods of reducing glare and improving visibility. Blackwell will organize a task force of 4 panel members (city manager Eric Levitt, ADOT Northern Arizona Regional Traffic Engineer Chuck Gillick, community representative KB Bren and community member Cliff Ochser) to drive 89A to identify the "points of conflict" which might require some form of lighting or another safety solution.

The panel will meet once more, on February 11 at 11AM, to review their findings on points of conflict along 89A and to determine if any additional solutions will be recommended to the City Council which is expected to hear from the committee in late February.




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