Buckeye council approves 3-lane design for Monroe Avenue, authorizes interim restriping

The Buckeye City Council on Aug. 26 approved a permanent three-lane cross section for Monroe Avenue through downtown and authorized staff to proceed with an interim restriping plan intended to approximate that configuration within the next nine months.

The move implements staff recommendations developed after multiple workshops, public meetings and a pilot demonstration block. "Regardless of the outcome, we're gonna be moving forward with some of these activities to improve the infrastructure in downtown," said Brian Craig, the city's development services director, during the presentation.

The council's decision follows months of outreach tied to the Downtown Specific Area Plan (DSAP) and a year-plus of pilot work on Monroe. Craig told the council the city has conducted multiple workshops and public meetings, mailed more than 1,900 notices, logged roughly 11,000 social engagements and collected 865 community survey responses during the planning process. The city also has budgeted funds in the current fiscal year to begin interim work and the later reconstruction.

Supporters told the council they expect the three-lane design to improve safety and business visibility. "Main Street is more than pavement. It's a place that welcomes locals and visitors alike. Monroe is more than just a roadway. It's our front porch," said Candy Yonker, president of the Buckeye Main Street Coalition.

Opponents and some downtown residents said the council should restore the prior four-lane configuration. "They don't walk. They drive. And it's just the way it is," said Councilmember Berry, urging the council to return to four lanes while further investments or destinations are built.

Staff described how the interim restriping will be paired with survey work, design concept review (DCR) and targeted potholing to locate utilities before full reconstruction. Craig said potholing and survey work would occur near the end of the design effort, with major surface work scheduled in the summer slow season to limit event-season disruption. He said some infrastructure replacements — water, sewer and storm drain upgrades — are necessary regardless of lane configuration and that the city is coordinating potential county, state and federal stormwater funds to offset costs.

The council first voted on a motion to direct staff to restore a four-lane layout; that motion failed. The council then approved the staff recommendation for the three-lane plan by roll call (ayes recorded in the transcript include Councilmember Jonker, Councilmember Goodman, Councilmember Beard, Vice Mayor Eustace and Mayor Osborne; Councilmember Berry voted no). The approved action authorizes staff to proceed with the design concept review, outreach to downtown businesses about parking and parklets, destructive potholing to verify utilities, and interim restriping to create two travel lanes and a center turn lane with parking along the curb.

Councilmembers and staff emphasized the work is staged: the interim restripe is intended to reflect the long-term vision while permitting additional streetscape elements — wider sidewalks, lighting and seating — to be added either in the interim or as part of a future reconstruction. Craig said the longer-term reconstruction is likely several years away and that roughly 70–80% of reconstruction costs may be underground utility work.

The council directed staff to begin survey, DCR, outreach and interim restriping preparations; staff estimated the restripe work could be completed in about nine months but said some warranty or thermal-tape work could extend slightly into the school season.

The action is procedural and funds for preliminary work are in the current fiscal-year downtown budget, according to staff. Further design approvals and construction scheduling will return to the council for later review.

Less critical details: the council discussed parking stall widths, sight lines at intersections (including Ninth Street), and the potential for a pedestrian-activated signal at Ninth Street (staff said an over-the-lane pedestrian signal is on order and expected within about a year).