Flagstaff outlines major street and trail projects, timelines and funding sources

City capital improvements staff on April 2 presented an update focused on streets, multimodal projects and trails included in Flagstaff’s Capital Improvements Program, summarizing project scopes, budgets, funding sources and anticipated schedules.

Trevor Henry, capital improvements engineer, reviewed a list of major projects and current status. Highlights included: - Beulah–University realignment and Beulah Boulevard extension: construction largely underway, with a roundabout completed; total project budget cited at about $24 million (includes land acquisition, construction and developer contributions). Henry said the pedestrian tunnel under Milton is expected to open mid-summer. - John Wesley Powell extension: estimated total cost about $51 million, with a shared funding approach (city covering 40% and a group of property owners covering 60%); city responsibility is a segmented portion of the alignment and construction is expected to begin in the next calendar year. - Lone Tree Overpass and Poetry Overpass (combined corridor work): Henry said design is complete and construction is under way for portions of the corridor; the combined program estimate presented was about $161 million with potential RTAC funding requests to reduce city match. Construction may last multiple years. - Butler/Fourth and Butler Complete Streets: Butler/Fourth is a complete-streets project with an estimated budget of $32 million; the project received a RAISE (BUILD) grant of $19 million. Separately, Butler Complete Streets is funded by SS4A ($9.6 million) and an AZ Smart grant ($2.4 million) to cover a $12 million project for separated bike lanes, protected intersections and enhanced crossings.

Transportation engineer David Lemke reviewed targeted safety and signal updates including the Smoke Rise–Highway 89 signal rebuild (budget about $700,000) and residential traffic management work (discussed separately at the same meeting). Henry and Lemke also described an array of pedestrian and non-motorized projects: Switzer Canyon trail, asphalt trail repairs (about $3.7 million budgeted), multiple sidewalk infill projects (Linda Vista, Mountain View access, Sinclair Ridge), single-track forest access connections, enhanced crossing evaluations and elements of Mountain Line’s First/Last Mile program (Mountain Line share and city obligations described). Several projects linked to bond measures and specific propositions (e.g., Prop 4 19, Prop 4 20) and to federal grants.

Commissioners asked about coordination and sequencing — notably scheduling to avoid simultaneous closures (Linda Vista and an adjacent roundabout closure) — and how projects would be coordinated with Lone Tree Overpass work to avoid redoing recently completed work. Staff said they are coordinating with ADOT and project partners to avoid overlapping closures and to align design/construction timing.