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, would convert the existing two‑lane section near Little America and the middle school into a divided corridor with two travel lanes each direction, a 15‑foot median, landscaped parkways and separated bike/pedestrian facilities. Henry said the project is budgeted at $32,200,000, with about $28,000,000 estimated for construction; roughly $19,000,000 in federal grant funding has been awarded and an Arizona Smart Fund request for $3,800,000 is planned. He said the city’s remaining funds — design and some potential right‑of‑way — total about $9,000,000.

Henry described the Beulah/University realignment and extension (near Target and Milton Road) as a project nearing completion: he said construction began about 18 months ago and that crews expect to finish later this summer. He said private development has contributed $1,700,000 to date and that up to about $5,000,000 more could be provided by future developments over a multi‑year repayment schedule.

Bowman and Entz outlined safety and multimodal projects elsewhere: a Cedar/Lockett/Fourth roundabout funded by a Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) grant is under construction, with a planned full intersection closure after schools end so the roundabout can be completed and reopened before school resumes. Entz noted the project will add marked Z‑style crosswalks, push‑button actuated beacons and school‑oriented safety features.

The Butler Avenue Complete Streets project will elevate and separate bike lanes from vehicle lanes and add protected intersections; Entz said the work is fully grant funded (Safe Streets for All: $9,600,000; Arizona Smart Fund: $2,400,000) and carries a $12,000,000 project budget. Bowman described coordination among concurrent projects (for example, Lone Tree corridor and Butler Complete Streets) to avoid rework where improvements overlap.

Bowman summarized the Lone Tree Overpass and corridor improvements — a multiyear project to widen Lone Tree to four lanes with a bridge over the railroad and railroad‑adjacent Rio de Flag realignment — and said portions are under construction now with corridor work staged through 2028. Martin Entz described a separate city program to repair asphalt‑paved trails: the city manages roughly 59 miles of trails (about 11 miles paved) and has budgeted to repair or rebuild about eight miles in a single budget cycle, using a trail‑specific asphalt mix and five‑year maintenance refreshes.

Commissioners asked about schedules, snow‑removal implications for raised bikeways, and bus stop coordination; Entz said the chosen elevated bikeway cross section provides about 11 feet of concrete that is easier for the city to maintain and that the lane type has an emerging crash‑reduction factor in recent safety studies. Commissioners thanked staff for including pedestrian underpasses and bus stops in project designs.

Staff flagged next steps: continued design through 2025 for several projects, grant applications where applicable, and staggered construction start dates in 2025–2027 for the major corridors. The presentation closed with staff encouraging the commission to contact them with specific questions about nearby projects and construction impacts.

Less critical details: staff said multiple contractors may work on contiguous segments of the John Wesley Powell connection and that private developers (Symmetry Development, Canyon Del Rio) are building adjoining sections. Several presenters noted the projects were long‑running elements of past and current transportation tax ballot measures.