Sedona AZ (September 25, 2019) – A draft final implementation plan for an ambitious public transit program for the Sedona/Oak Creek Canyon area is ready for community review and comment. LSC Transportation Consultants, a transportation and traffic engineering firm with offices in Colorado, California and Nevada, has released a 330-page draft-final implementation plan. The plan takes what have been general concepts, created over many years of previous transit studies, to the point of actual implementation.
The plan will be presented to the Sedona City Council on Oct. 23, 3 p.m., in the city council chambers located at 102 Roadrunner Dr. The direction and/or elements approved by the council at that meeting will serve as the city’s roadmap to transit implementation.
The public can provide final input on transit implementation at the Oct. 23, 3 p.m., council meeting, and online at sedonaaz.gov/transit.
Data-gathering and study for the transit plan has been ongoing since June 2018 and has included multiple surveys, public meetings, focus groups, stakeholder interviews and visitor interviews.
Sedona Assistant City Manager and Community Development Director Karen Osburn says transit improvements were among the strategies in the Transportation Master Plan that received overwhelming citizen support.
“The goal of all of our work has been to design a transit system that will enhance resident and visitor experiences while protecting our unique environment, and improve mobility,” she says. “Another goal is reducing the number of vehicles on area roadways during the busiest tourist seasons, and reducing the number of vehicles seeking parking at specific trailheads and other locations where parking capacity is lacking.”
Residents who don’t have time to review the entire 330-page report will want to read the initial, 29-page overview, and might then focus on Chapter 13, beginning on page 281 of the PDF, posted on the city website, which details possible service options and routes, infrastructure needs, governance, costs and timing for implementation. Visit sedonaaz.gov/transit and access the final report in the highlight box on the right side of the page.
Broadly speaking, the transit service plan is focused on two areas: (1) enhanced circulation service within Sedona city limits and the Village of Oak Creek, and (2) development of a visitor-oriented shuttle that would be extended to serve Oak Creek Canyon and forest trailheads within and surrounding the city. The majority of the funding for this Sedona in Motion transit plan was provided by a federal grant, with $30,000 coming from city SIM funds and $10,000 from Coconino County. The Sedona Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau has pledged $10,000 for potential additional development work.
The technical advisory committee that has marshalled the plan through the study and input processes included members from the city, Arizona Department of Transportation, Sedona Fire District, U.S. Forest Service, Coconino County, Arizona State Parks, Cottonwood Area Transit, and the Sedona Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau.