Sedona AZ (July 23, 2015) – Residents of Sedona can definitely agree on one thing: Sedona is a very special place to live. Sometimes it seems we agree on almost nothing else. Actually, the truth is we agree on many things, but it seems like the issues we disagree on are characterized by very strong feelings on all sides. I have always believed that this is due to the fact that most of us who have moved here came because we really want to live in Sedona; it is our ideal place to live. We didn’t come for a job opportunity; we came because we love Sedona. And because we love it so much, many of us want it to stay the way it was when we arrived. We all care deeply about Sedona and the quality of life we have here, probably more than anywhere else we have lived. But when we move here, we change it, it won’t stay the same.
One of the most common complaints I hear is about traffic, and why we keep trying to attract tourists to clog up our roads. From the day I moved here, I heard that annual tourist visitation was two to four million people. Today, the figures haven’t changed very much. That essentially doubles our population on average, but of course some days there are more and some days there are fewer. When I moved here 43 years ago, there were about 4,000 residents. Today, it is about 6,000 more than that, and those 6,000 are full time residents according to the census. That means 6,000 more people on the roads every day. And then there are those who have second homes here. Although those folks are difficult to quantify, in terms of housing stock it may be as high as one fifth. Increased traffic comes from both tourists and residents.
In addition, we are constrained by having only two major roadways which converge into an Uptown main street with only two lanes for travel. It seems very likely to me that we are never going to solve our traffic problems at peak times, but we can find ways to mitigate traffic issues. We are committed to doing just that. Frankly, I don’t know of any city that has solved its traffic problems. Cities with very effective mass transit and residents who walk and bike in large numbers still experience major traffic congestion.
Those who live here have the advantage over our visitors because we know some less traveled routes, and we know how to plan our trips to avoid peak times. And most days of the year during most of the day we don’t have traffic issues. And I think most of us can agree that our average daily commute or our daily errand run is nothing like it would be in any major city, where traffic is terrible at peak hours every single weekday. What’s more, people sitting in traffic in those cities don’t have the spectacular scenery to enjoy while they are stuck.
I know that I consider myself so very fortunate to have been able to live in Sedona for 43+ years, and I look forward to many more in the most beautiful place on earth, in so many ways. I hope you do too.
The above represents my own opinion and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of City Council or staff.
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5 Comments
Oh ~!~ so fortunate to be able to sit in traffic where the scenery doesn’t suck~! Thank you, dear Mayor.
Yes, there are many things you can do about it. But EVERYTHing cost so darn much blasted money. Never mind that the citizens of Sedona are on the hook for some 12 million (non-transparent) dollars to the Chamber to market Sedona, so the problem will (hopefully) get a lot worse.
How about a bridge south of Midgley that would span the canyon to connect with Schenbly Hill Rd for a shortcut to 179 and straight to Tlaquepaque? How about pedestrian bridges in uptown = no stopping for jaywalkers? How about creating access north of Clear Creek (across from Sedona Art Center) and reinventing Jordan road = creating an alternative through uptown. How about moving the post office to Forest Road and creating another alternative access through uptown plus add more commercial access?
What happened to the trolley? Sedona is in serious need of mass transit. A light rail to VOC, Flagstaff, Cottonwood, Page Springs, Cornville is seriously needed if the city expects all those tourists to be served/waited upon. Besides, the Chamber will promote businesses from these areas – FOR FREE! Who Hoo! Even more congestion will be the happy result.
We all hear the ring a ding ding of the cash registers. It’s time to invest that money wisely.
I am curious if the City maintains their own traffic count for the Uptown area since the city owns that portion of SR 89A from L’Auberge Ln. to the very north end of Uptown by La VIsta motel. This would be good information to know.
Based on ADOT’s daily traffic count for 2013, it shows between 5,000 and 6,000 vehicles per day in their areas south of the city owned portion of SR 89A (from the ‘Y’ to L’Auberge Ln.) and the north end (by La Vista Motel to Purtymun Ln.) .That’s around 2 million vehicles a year so I think it’s a fair assumption that the Uptown area gets at least that much traffic. (In comparison, the west side of Sedona sees 11 million vehicles in the 5 lanes of traffic from Dry Creek Rd. to Coffee Pot Dr.).
When the city took over the Uptown area of SR 89A and revamped it some years ago, it was made more pedestrian friendly by eliminating 17 or so parking spaces, adding crosswalks and much needed sidewalk improvements. The City has since added more parking spaces by leasing property in the surrounding neighborhood to help offset the loss.
Now, some 10 years later, the Sedona Police Department (and the City) have to deal with constant complaints as described by Mayor Moriarty. Most of those complaints aren’t as politely articulated by our esteemed Mayor. A push to promote tourism has proven successful as the increased sales tax revenues are evident in recent budget reports.
Unfortunately, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. We just don’t have the infrastructure to handle the volume of tourists we have been getting with the increased promotion of tourism. And the completion of the current construction project won’t help the situation since adding yet another crosswalk at the north end of Uptown will likely snarl traffic even more.
I can say this from my experience not as a motorist stuck in the backlog of traffic but from one who spent 9 hours this past weekend directing traffic during the National Day of the Cowboy Event. I’ve spent other weekend days as well directing traffic in Uptown. Even with 5 Police Department employees/volunteers directing pedestrian traffic this past weekend, backups were reported by motorists as far north as Slide Rock Park. Many reported taking over an hour to get from the Trout Farm (2 miles north of the city limits) to Uptown. That 3 mile drive would normally take no more than 5 minutes.
In my humble opinion, fewer crosswalks will alleviate some of the traffic jams. Moving the midtown crosswalk (& light) to the Apple Ave intersection and eliminating the crosswalk approximately 200 feet north of Apple Ave.(by Matterhorn Shops) will condense crossing opportunities and should increase the flow of vehicular traffic. But I am not an engineer, I just deal with the aftermath by being asked to come in on my day off and help fix the flow of traffic.
And I won’t get into the politics of tourism promotion since the Chamber of Commerce certainly doesn’t want to see a decrease in funding from the City.
…and wait for it….thanks to KSB and City Council we’re going to become a National Monument whether we like it or not.
The Federal Government will control all of Sedona whether we like it or not. And yes, there will be more traffic and congestion. KSB will continue to promise that nothing will change, but everything will change.
Do you trust the Feds? They say to trust them, they will take better care of the forest and they will protect our antiquities. We can be just like Grand Canyon. Last time we went there we waited in line to get in the park for a couple of hours. Sedona will be a miserable place to live if the Feds take over.
I’ve been to meetings where the majority of those present are against it, but our concerns go unheard because they are only having meetings so they can say that they informed the public.
“they paved paradise and put up a parking lot…”
“Council frets over ‘same old, same old’ traffic woes in Uptown Sedona” was published by SEDONA BIZ on March 15, 2008 with regard to the effects of the Uptown Enhancement Project.
The author states: “Traffic congestion in Uptown Sedona is worse today than before the City spent about $3.6 Million on the project….Traffic jams in the last nine to 12 months are more frequent and last longer than in past years, according to a March 10 [2008] city council communication…’Someone pulls up to wait for a car to back out of a space [on 89A] and the backer has to back right into traffic,’ Mr. Stearn said [then sitting Councilmember Harvey Stearn].”
I’ve lived in the Uptown area for 14 years. The City’s portion of Hwy 89A, a public highway, persevered narrowing so as to make room for wider sidewalks. As a result, since that time cars get backed out of Uptown 89A parking spaces directly into traffic, creating far worse congestion. And there’s more. The 89A merge lane accommodating traffic from Jordan Road, dead-ending at its intersection with 89A, was terminated. A much wider sidewalk, containing some restaurant tables, chairs and umbrellas now occupies a very important part of former Hwy 89A.
Who has ever heard of such things?
Time to get real. ADOT paid the City $1.7 Million to bring the City’s portion of Hwy 89A into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The City then spent a whopping $3.6 Million to worsen traffic jams on 89A through Uptown Sedona–not to mention on the highways approaching from the north and the south.
Jean Jenks
This is directed to the people who are complaining about the tourist traffic in Sedona. Sedona has been a tourist town since the 1950’s when there were Native American teepee tents on the street in what is now Uptown. I was fortunate to be one of those tourists as a young child coming up from Tucson to enjoy the red rocks. As a tour director, I brought 45 people through on a motor coach instead of congesting the road with 20+ cars so others from around the world could enjoy the majesty and beauty of this area. As my ex-husband , a stock trader, says, you don’t trade a stock without researching it, you don’t buy a house without researching it. You look at the community, you look at the environment, Is this a place you want to live? As the old saying goes, “look before you leap.”