As the former chair of the Transportation Commission, it has been very disturbing to watch what has transpired over the past 18 months, where city street improvements have become a political lightning rod, specifically 68th Street between Indian School and Thomas Roads.
The facts are listed below and have zero political influence in the actions and findings of city staff.
Fact 1: Transportation and Streets staff have taken the brunt of anger from a group of residents that feel the 68th Street improvements are part of the “government movement” to remove traffic lanes and the freedom of those that want to drive.
Answer: Nothing could be further from the truth, as the 68th Street project focused on providing safety through consistent lane configuration, pavement preservation treatment and lane restriping plan, extended left-turn bays in the medians, added right turn lanes and added on-street bicycle lanes for a comprehensive solution for all users - drivers, pedestrians and cyclists.
The city’s Traffic Management Center reports safe and efficient traffic movement at intersections along the project corridor. These findings are contrary to the misinformation and exaggerations that are being shared by that same group of residents, the majority of whom do not live anywhere near the 68th Street corridor.
Fact 2: It is valuable to look at the history of the 68th Street project, which many believe started with the city council vote on March 23, 2023.
Answer: The belief that the project started on March 23, 2023, is absolutely not true. The truth is that the purpose of the March 23, 2023, council vote was to approve the construction bid award, acceptance of the final federal grant and the transfer of the local funding match for the 68th Street project that was included in the FY 2019-2020 Capital Improvement Program (CIP). The 2023 Council action did not include approval of the project as the council had approved the project three years prior.
As the vice chair of the Transportation Commission in 2019-2020, alongside then chair Barry Graham, we were in attendance as staff presented the 68th Street project update to the Transportation Commission on October 17, 2019. Included in that presentation was a robust neighborhood outreach program.
In summary: City-approved policies and local and national guidelines align with the citizen-approved General Plans, most recently the voter-approved General Plan in November 2021. I represented the Transportation Commission, where members of each board and commission met for a year in developing a comprehensive General Plan.
Transportation Master Plans leading up to the current 2022 Transportation Action Plan have gone through an extensive public involvement process and been reviewed and approved by Transportation Commissions and city councils. For the 2022 TAP the city received over 500 comments from residents, none of which included any discussion, concerns, nor mention of road diets, lane reductions or roadway reclassification. For the record, road diet is not a word used in the TAP, it is a word that is tossed about by the public to define reclassification of roadway.
Experienced, career-long City of Scottsdale transportation professionals have been developing, maintaining, and monitoring the city’s transportation network for decades in accommodating all users – even equestrians. I will ask you, if we rely on them every day to do this for us, why wouldn’t we accept their judgment on the safest and best design for the number and placement of lane lines in the street?
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.
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