Prescott City wins $875,000 in grants and advances traffic-safety projects, radar-sign policy

At the Oct. 14, 2025 study session, Gwen Roach (Public Works) briefed the council on transportation and traffic-related strategic-plan results, grant awards and capital projects.

Roach said traffic-safety work this year included signal-timing coordination on multiple corridors and installation of coordinated timing on SR 89 segments. She described a policy for prioritizing radar speed-feedback signs (often called radar speed vans or driver-feedback signs) that cost about $10,000 each and said the city has budgeted some purchases but is developing a policy to prioritize locations.

Roach said the city, in partnership with the Central Yavapai Metropolitan Planning Organization (referred to in the presentation as SIMPO), was awarded a $150,000 Safe Streets for All grant for a Dexter neighborhood study and a $600,000 Downtown Prescott Safe and Smart Streets Initiative. She said SIMPO secured a $125,000 match from ADOT, bringing the total awarded to the city for the two studies to $875,000. The Dexter grant will include a study and a 15% design concept report; the downtown study will cover the Girley/Park Avenue to Washington Street corridor and adjacent areas.

Staff described sidewalk redesign in the Miller Valley Road corridor (Gurley to Four Points intersection), a mid-block crosswalk review, an SR 89 multimodal PATH study to bridge a gap for bicyclists coming into the city, and Quad City standard-detail updates to require sidewalks on both sides of many street classifications and accommodate bike lanes. Roach said the city plans to apply for construction funding for the SR 89 PATH project next fiscal year.

Council members asked about operational changes such as the city's plan to buy striping equipment and bring striping work in-house to reduce delays, and about traffic-safety assessments SIMPO will fund on Mount Vernon Street. Roach said the city is procuring major pieces of striping equipment and will be in a hybrid year using contracted services while moving to a staffed, in-house capability.

Roach said the Dexter neighborhood and downtown studies should begin in 2026, and that the city has begun design work on some ADA sidewalk needs but still needs construction funding or grants to complete larger sidewalk projects.

Separately, staff reported federal and state-funded projects and grants in utilities and street lighting: an AMI meter program reduced the city's net project cost after a Water Infrastructure Finance Authority reimbursement, and a federal energy-efficiency grant funded replacement of over 200 LED street-light heads to save energy.

Roach said staff will return with scopes, schedules and grant applications for construction funding and recommended adoption of updated engineering standards that reflect new sidewalk and bike-lane expectations.