Queen Creek taxpayers will pony up more than $25,000 to build an electric gate across a public street.

The gate is aimed at preventing parishioners of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church from cutting through the Will Rogers Equestrian Ranch neighborhood - something residents say could become a safety risk.

But some Town Council members and residents are worried that gating a public road sets a "dangerous precedent," encouraging other neighborhoods to seek similar relief for cut-through traffic.

The gate will prevent parishioners exiting a future church driveway on 205th Place from cutting through the neighborhood.

The new driveway is being built to replace one on Ocotillo Road that needs to be closed because of the widening of Ocotillo and related relocation of Salt River Project power lines.

The town hired a mediator, and after two meetings that included neighborhood residents and church officials and parishioners, the decision was reached to construct a gate on 205th Place between Ocotillo Road and Appaloosa Drive and provide "clickers" to Will Rogers residents.

The town also plans to construct a paved driveway from the church connecting to Ellsworth Loop Road.

The Town Council unanimously approved the plan at its April 2 meeting where representatives from both the church and the neighborhood supported it.

Councilwoman Lisa Coletto-Cohen, who left the meeting early due to illness, did not vote on the project but said she would have asked for the issue to be continued so the council could evaluate more options.

"Having a gate that the town of Queen Creek pays for on a public right-of-way establishes a dangerous precedent and further erodes our rural character," Coletto-Cohen said.

"It paves the way for any homeowners association or developer that may be concerned about cut-through traffic to result to asking for a gate instead of standard solutions for traffic calming."

Queen Creek resident Chris Clark said he has "significant concerns" about the gate.

Among those, Clark said he would have liked to see more public discussion and traffic studies after the driveway change to determine if traffic-calming measures were necessary.

"We have other neighborhoods in town that have documented significant cut-through traffic that aren't receiving gating or any other mitigation," Clark said.

"I think it's unreasonable to spend money to gate a public street without knowing what the traffic impact could be. I understand them (the Town Council) wanting to help the neighborhood group and church but it was also their responsibility to make sure it was good for the entire community."

Councilman Jon Wootten also expressed concerns about gating a public street.

Town officials expect to spend more than $60,000 on the project, including $25,000 for the gate, $27,000 on driveways and an additional $2,000 on landscaping to block headlights from effecting homes across from the driveways.

The neighborhood homeowners association will pick up the costs of maintaining the gate once it is in place.

The single gate wouldn't make the neighborhood completely gated because there is an additional entrance and exit on the west side of the neighborhood.