Fear or reality?

By Cliff Hamilton

SEDONA, AZ (November 19, 2009) - There are those who are afraid of reality and those who are concerned about the process of installing streetlights on 89A in west Sedona.

in an attempt to “relieve” the fear of reality, Tom Hartman recently provided some of the questions and responses between myself and Arizona Department of Transportation from the Council’s streetlights hearing on Oct. 28 . Although incomplete and out of context, those questions and answers do provide major realities that Mr. Hartman chose to overlook.

Let’s examine my questions, ADOT’s answer and reality one at a time.

Hamilton: “How long will it take to put in the system….?”

ADOT: “About six months max.”

Reality: In ADOT’s initial materials they said it would take about a year to install the lighting. Now that time has conveniently become six months. Figure on six months to a year depending on how much rock they hit digging trenches, weather, funding shortages and difficulty in getting easements from private business and other land owners along the way – all things ADOT has not contemplated in any detail yet.

Hamilton: “How is that trench dug and what kind of equipment do you use…?”

ADOT: “Sometimes they will trench. Actually a lot of the lighting systems now are being bored in….”

Hamilton: “By boring you are talking about some sort of horizontal drill approach…?”

ADOT: “Yes”

Reality: Boring doesn’t work if rock is involved. How many places in west Sedona can you dig down at least 2 feet and not encounter some sort of rock? Boring is more expensive than using the usual backhoe or trenching machine. It can be cost effective only if it allows avoiding major obstacles like landscaping, other utilities, roadways, etc. Given the realities of what is under much of west Sedona, trenching will be the primary approach for installing the wires and conduits necessary for streetlights. ADOT has not identified just what methods will be used in this installation and where. They have not mapped out locations of utilities nor evaluated the landscape destruction that will take place. They have not pursued easements. In short they don’t know what it will take in terms of time, destruction or cost.

Above is a typical backhoe used for much of the trenching work done in Sedona. When rock is encountered, a “hammer hoe” is fitted in place of the bucket and the rock is hammered out. This type of machine takes a swath 8 to 10 feet wide to move through as it does its work.

Hamilton: “What happens to trees when you put a trench through there?”

ADOT: “I think that what we would need to do through the design process is identify some of those critical locations as an avoidance…in the design and construction itself.”

Reality: ADOT will have to get wire and conduits the full length of both sides of 89A. The notion that you can just “avoid” some areas due to large trees and other major landscaping in the way is absurd. Clearly ADOT had not even considered the destruction of large trees and other major landscaping along 89A during construction. With typical highway engineer thinking, they give the “stock” answer believing they can engineer and design away any problem.

Where does the trench go? A trench even to the right of the sidewalk will sever major roots to these old, established trees and they will very likely die. Take a look next time you drive down west 89A. There are a surprising number of large trees like these along that street and many established smaller ones that will be lost to construction, regardless of how it is done. A trench to the right of the sidewalk also lines up exactly with the trees in the background. Backhoes, trenchers and boring machines dig in straight paths. They are not designed to zig zag to avoid things. Contractors prefer to dig in straight lines because it’s easier to operate the machines. Long metal conduits have to be installed in long straight trenches because they don’t bend very well.

Councilor Dan Surber: …”Is there a standard agreement as far as roadways and sidewalks and landscaping to return it to the state it was before?”

ADOT: “Yes, we do put that in the contract documents to make sure it’s restored to what it was before…”

Reality: One must really understand ADOT’s notion of “restored” to understand this answer. Replacing a 12-16 inch diameter tree that is many decades old and that stands 45 feet high with a 2 inch tree standing 8 feet high meets their notion of “restored.” Reality is that such mature landscaping and large trees cannot be “restored,” accept through scores of years of growth - if new trees can be reestablished on the site at all after construction has killed them. Replacing mature shrubbery with a few 5 gallon potted plants will also suffice their definition of “restored” when in fact it will be a decade or more before any will achieve a similar appearance to what existed before construction.

In response to Surber's question above, ADOT has apparently begun to realize they overlooked a serious issue in the trees and landscaping that will be destroyed along 89A if they install lights. When asked at their Library exposition on Nov. 5 about the landscape issue, ADOT engineer John Harper indicated he was now thinking about putting the trench down the sidewalks.