Flagstaff staff brief Commission on Diversity Awareness on major transportation projects and timelines

City transportation staff on May 21 briefed the Commission on Diversity Awareness on a portfolio of major Flagstaff projects, outlining designs, funding sources and construction timelines for corridors and trail repairs across the city.

The presentation matters because these projects reorganize major travel corridors, add separated bike and pedestrian facilities, and carry tens of millions in public dollars that affect traffic, school access and neighborhood circulation.

Jeff Bowman, the city’s traffic engineer, Trevor Henry, capital improvements engineer, and Martin Entz, multimodal transportation planner, presented project maps and schedules and answered commissioners’ questions. Bowman said the John Wesley Powell Boulevard extension has been in long‑range plans for more than 20 years and that design is roughly 15% complete; the entire corridor is currently estimated at about $51,000,000, with the city’s share roughly $24,000,000. Bowman and Henry described that the work will cross the Rio de Flag and include a pedestrian underpass and that construction is expected to begin as designs are completed.

The Butler/Fourth Street improvement project, Henry said,…