Citizen asks council to extend 4th Avenue Extension turn lane
Engineer says project would add $3 million to cost
Constructing a turn lane during an upcoming project on the 4th Avenue Extension would add another $3 million to the budget. Nevertheless, a resident asked the Yuma City Council about the possibility of including a turn lane as part of the reconstruction project, citing safety concerns for the 1,200 residents who live in parks along the road.
Kathy White, who lives off of 4th Avenue, addressed the council during a citizens forum held Monday, instead of the usual Tuesday, due to an ad-hoc committee taking in public comments on the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System in the council chambers beginning at 5 p.m. today.
The 4th Avenue Extension project is scheduled to start in 2019. It is currently in the design phase.
White told the council there is heavy traffic year round on the road due to the Airport Loop, the correctional facility, Cocopah Casino, swap meet, industrial park, two cocktail lounges and traffic coming off 32nd Street.
She gave the council members a list of accidents and fire reports for the last five years, noting, “You can see there have been substantial incidents,” including 33 fire calls, 54 traffic accidents and one death.
After speaking with other residents in the surrounding area,
White said she and other citizens would like the city to consider extending the turning lane from 32nd Street to 40th Street.
“We understand there are budget concerns, but as taxpayers we have contributed to this on our annual property tax for work specified for the 4th Avenue Extension,” White said.
“We would hope the reconstruction would improve traffic flow and our safety. Yuma is growing and the city is keeping up with road expansions and the needs of the community. We would like to be included in this future growth.”
She noted that a water station, a hairdresser, a cocktail lounge and about six residential parks are located between 32nd and 40th streets. She also noted recent increased traffic due to “new job opportunities in that area.” She pointed out that many of the park residents are of a “retirement age” and “poor” winter visitors.
“We’ve had close calls where they’re trying to turn left or right into their residential parks and they either been hit from rear or front,” White said, adding that some motorists don’t follow the 25 mph speed limit. “Some of the vehicles go through there like 40 miles an hour.”
“I don’t think it’s safe for me or any other resident in that area to stop and make a turn into our residences,” she said.
Mayor Doug Nicholls asked for the scope of that project. City Engineer Jeff Kramer said it is strictly a pavement replacement project that will extend just south of 32nd Street to within a couple feet of 40th Street. The city also plans a project on 40th Street to “close that gap.”
The project budget is set at $1.5 million for next fiscal year. Nicholls asked Kramer how much a turning lane would add to the cost. The engineer noted estimates done in the past put the cost at nearly $4 million due to a “significant number of restraints in that corridor” that make a turning lane “quite expensive due to other impacts than just the pavement themselves.”
Nicholls asked whether the city had considered a turning lane as a “mitigation measure” for resolving accidents in the area. Kramer said it appears 11 accidents may have been attributable to traffic attempting to make left turns on 4th Avenue, but the other accidents occurred where a left turn lane already exists or appear to be accidents where a left turn lane wouldn’t have prevented them. But, he added, staff had not had time to analyze every single accident.
Nicholls asked about the fatality mentioned by White. Kramer said staff had not received details on that.
White then added that “based on my calculations from our tax that we pay that is $20 per property lot per resident for 20 years plus 1,200 people — lots — we have contributed close to half a million dollars.”
She conceded that the city has done maintenance work on that road, “but I’d like you to try to consider that that tax structure will continue. I know this is a large expenditure, but we are a growing community and there has been a lot of growth in that area in the last few years.”
The mayor noted that he doesn’t expect for residents to pay directly for the road in front of the neighborhood. “I appreciate that analysis, but for me it’s what’s best for the overall traveling public. Sometimes you’re in a neighborhood you just don’t get anything and other times you’re in a neighborhood where you get a lot of improvements.”
Councilman Edward Thomas asked whether adding a turning lane would affect the paved walking path recently constructed on that road. “Possibly,” Kramer replied, noting that the city had several options, including widening the center line or shifting it to one side or the other. The project would be “constricted either way” by utilities, the irrigation canal and a narrow right-of way.
He also pointed out a “chance we would have to buy out residents to obtain enough right away.” White said she had been told that residents had donated property for a turn lane closer to 40th Street.
Councilman Mike Shelton then offered his recommendation; he suggested Kramer meet with the neighborhood residents to discuss possible options “that don’t involve a $4 million expenditure. There may be something reasonable and practicable that can be done that hasn’t been thought of.”
Nicholls also asked that staff look into the fatality and Yuma Metropolitan Planning Organization traffic counts to see how that road compares with other streets in the Capital Improvement Plan “that are receiving a similar treatment.”
Nicholls added, “The struggle we have is there’s a lot of needs throughout the city and there’s a lot of growth happening in a lot of areas, in balancing that on a limited budget, so we want to make that sure we’re doing the comparison that best serves the overall community.”
Deputy Mayor Gary Knight requested that staff find out if any other property owners would be willing to donate property for the required rightof-way, which would make the project less expensive.
The council will hold the regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the City Hall Council Chambers, 1 City Plaza. View the full agenda on the city’s website at www.YumaAz.gov.