Iacovo: Setting the record straight on Scottsdale transportation
By Pamela Iacovo | Point of View
As the former chair of the Scottsdale Transportation Commission, including a six-year tenure, 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 the one-mile segment on 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 along the entire 68th Street corridor, enhanced pedestrian crossings with the addition of two Rapid Flashing Beacons at 2nd Street and Avalon Street and a new traffic signal at 68th Street and Osborn. The project included a pavement preservation treatment and lane restriping plan, extended left-turn bays in the medians, added right turn lanes and added on-street bicycle lanes in the corridor for a comprehensive solution for all users: drivers, pedestrians and cyclists.
Crews completed the 68th Street project in October 2023. Since that time, Transportation and Streets staff at the city’s Traffic Management Center have been closely and consistently monitoring these modifications in the field and at the city’s Traffic Management Center and report safe and efficient traffic movement at intersections along the project corridor, with no significant congestion in the area. These findings are contrary to the misinformation and exaggerations that are constantly being shared by that same group of residents, the majority of whom do not live anywhere near the 68th Street corridor.
Fact 2: Because of my time on the Transportation Commission and the professionals that make up the city staff, 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 2019-20 Capital Improvement Program. 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 Oct. 17, 2019. Included in that presentation was the neighborhood outreach which involved adjusting the road to two lanes and providing bike lanes and pedestrian mobility in the corridor.
At the Transportation Commission meeting on Dec. 19, 2019, city staff reported that several projects were being brought to City Council for the acceptance of federal grants on Jan. 14, 2020. The grants included a Congestion Mitigation Air Quality grant for 68th Street and Transportation Alternatives grant for Thomas Road (both were part of the CIP). City staff updates were well received by the Transportation Commission with no concern expressed by any members. On Jan. 14, 2020, Scottsdale City Council, which included Councilwoman Littlefield, voted to accept the federal grant awards for 68th Street through approval of this consent agenda item. The grants were subsequently awarded to the city.
The 68th Street project is but one example of a long list of multimodal projects that city staff has completed to fill in system gaps and add safety and livability to our community. Staff is adhering to the City Council adopted Complete Streets Policy and a proven roadway reclassification process used for decades.
In summary: There is major concern when City Council members and residents do not trust and respect our professional engineers, traffic operations engineers, planners, and city staff, nor believe the data and facts that support the city’s findings and recommendations were gathered through proven processes. Experienced, career-long city of Scottsdale transportation professionals have been developing, maintaining, and monitoring the city’s comprehensive transportation network for decades in accommodating all users and providing options for travel – even equestrians. I will ask you – if we rely on them every day to do this for us, why wouldn’t we accept their judgement on the safest and best design for the number and placement of lane lines in the street?
City approved policies and local and national guidelines the transportation staff use in evaluating any road have been in place for decades and 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 the Boards and Commissions met for a year in developing a comprehensive General Plan that included four new categories.
Multiple Transportation Master Plans (2001, 2003, 2008, 2016) leading up to the current 2022 Transportation Action Plan (TAP) 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. The TC held separate TAP meetings with the city staff for the purpose of dedicating our time to this important effort.
Suffice it to say the focus of roadway projects during the early years was on system capacity expansion. No engineering guidance during that period encouraged consideration of reclassification. Consequently, multi-lane roadways became the norm throughout the country and accommodated only the driver. Active transportation – bicyclists, pedestrians and equestrians – is part of the city’s history and is a big reason why people choose to live, visit and invest in our city.
Let’s provide our skilled, tenured and dedicated Transportation and Streets Department with the resources and backing to do their job and continue to develop an efficient transportation system that makes Scottsdale unique and mimicked by other cities.
Thank you for allowing me to voice my concerns. I look forward to working with you in the future.
Editor’s Note: Pamela Iacovo is a Scottsdale resident and former chair of the Transportation Commission
