Scottsdale Road overhaul could cost $25 million

More than $1 million a mile. That’s how much it could cost to turn Scottsdale Road into a rainbow-colored “signature corridor” befitting Scottsdale’s namesake street.

GRAPHIC: Map of the proposed renovation of Scottsdale Road

City officials are finalizing guidelines for an artistic overhaul of the roughly 25 miles of road that passes through Scottsdale, from McKellips Road to the northern city limits.

The guidelines, which divide Scottsdale Road into six segments — assigning each a theme color, tree, building material and pattern — could be complete by next month.

“This is just a preliminary concept design,” said Jana Weldon, project manager with the Scottsdale Public Arts Program. “They started with a color palette and forms from the desert plant life in the area as a basis.”

The “streetscape” guidelines have been nearly three years in the making, involving eight city departments, including transportation, the police and economic vitality; the Public Arts Program, which falls under the aegis of the Scottsdale Cultural Council; artists and landscapers; and design consulting firm Otak Inc.

“It truly was a team effort,” Weldon said. “Despite the fact that we started a long time ago, we’re at the beginning.”

Madeline Clemann, senior Scottsdale transportation planner, said the plans could go before the city’s Development Review Board in May for a public hearing and possible approval.

The city then would hire a consultant to draft a detailed design for the roadway based on the approved guidelines.

“We hope to begin construction on segment one in early 2009,” Clemann said, referring to the Southern Gateway segment between McKellips Road and Earll Drive.

More than $27 million from a voter-approved bond issue in 2000, along with $4.4 million in federal transportation grants, is available to give Scottsdale Road a makeover, she said.

“It’s about $1 million a mile,” Clemann said.

The purpose is to establish a distinctive identity for the roadway that’s symbolic of Scottsdale, according to a draft version of the guidelines.

“This will make Scottsdale Road a signature street in the region as well as the entire Western United States, reinforcing Scottsdale as a major tourist destination and preserving the unique character of the city and the natural environment,” according to the draft.

One of the guidelines’ major features is a call for “green spots” at major intersections spaced a half-mile apart.

These spots would include such things as accent lighting, colorful plantings, seating, artwork, historic plaques and specialty paving treatments, and are meant to be a refuge for pedestrians.

Weldon said overhead sails would offer respite from the sun.

“They’re a shade canopy. It’s anticipated that they wouldn’t be solid. It would be kind of the sense of light through leaves,” she said.

Vertical plinths bearing the names of major roadways would be placed along intersections at mile intervals, as well.

Weldon described them as potentially being metal with a rusticated, reddish finish, but the construction materials won’t be finalized until after the Development Review Board hearing.

“That’s when we start working out the designs and materials,” Weldon said. “And of course the materials end up affecting the designs.”

Despite the fact that many intersections at which green spots are proposed are already developed, Clemann said the city is not planning to condemn or otherwise take land to create the refuges.

Rather, officials would look for opportunities to install them as the intersections redevelop, she said.

“You do it to the extent you can. You respect what’s there,” she said. “We’re not talking about going in and massively bulldozing things.”

Other proposals call for continuous sidewalks and bike paths along the entire length of the road; incorporating ecologically friendly materials and green practices like solar power for lights; planting native vegetation; using colored, textured pavement in center turn lanes; and burying most overhead utility lines.

City officials and consultants have held a series of public meetings on the proposed guidelines.

In response to some residents’ concerns, officials could increase the time pedestrians are given to cross at crosswalks and install a landscaped strip between the sidewalk and the roadway.

That would serve as a possible barrier between pedestrians and traffic, Clemann said.

Plans for overhead street lights in the most northerly segment could be scrapped.

Some of the financial burden, such as paying to bury utility lines, could be shifted to developers with new projects along the roadway, Clemann said.

The city paid Otak $92,000 to draft the guidelines, Clemann said.

The City Council would have the final say on approving a construction contract, she said.