With basically one way in and out, there are no easy answers for winter traffic congestion at the Snowbowl and adjacent snowplay areas:
Cars cram the parking lot at the Wing Mountain snow play area off Highway 180 last winter.
(photo: Jake Bacon)
Winter gridlock a worry
Officials propose posting signs, broadcasting warnings and giving tourists maps with alternate routes through Flagstaff.
By LARRY HENDRICKS
Arizona Daily Sun
November 14, 2009
What can be done to turn a winter traffic nightmare into just a fitful dream? More than 30 people met this week to begin coming up with a unified emergency plan to deal with traffic congestion through town to the Highway 180 corridor where tourists come to play in the snow. The best answer is trying to direct motorists to different routes through the city during snowy weekends until alternative snowplay areas on different roads can be developed. "We don't have the infrastructure to totally alleviate the problem," said Chief Deputy Jim Driscoll of the Coconino County Sheriff's Office. But, he added, if government and law enforcement agencies in the area work together, they might be able to manage the traffic to a point where tourists and residents alike won't have to wait three to four hours in traffic to get through town.
Last year, Driscoll said Highway 180, a two-lane highway meant to handle about 1,000 vehicles an hour during peak travel times, was having up to 5,000 estimated vehicles on it filled with people wanting to play in the snow. "This has been a long-term problem that we've been dealing with," said Lt. Jim Gerard of the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Four of the region's snowplay areas are along the Highway 180 corridor -- Arizona Snowbowl, Nordic Center and Wing Mountain and Crowley Pit sledding parks. Combined, they have a total of about 2,000 parking spaces. That leaves about 3,000 more vehicles left to park along the side of a road that has a speed limit of 55 mph. Families play -- even have tailgate parties -- precariously close to the road, said Sheriff Bill Pribil. A "perfect storm" for disaster, Gerard added.
Driscoll estimated that the congestion is mainly limited to holiday weekends after big snowfalls - perhaps 20 days a year at most. But during those times, the congestion through the city on Humphreys and Milton, already heavy during peak travel times, frustrates tourists and residents alike when the roads become bumper-to-bumper parking lots. Complicating matters, Gerard said, are the budget problems facing all agencies in the state. Staffing is not adequate to put people in the field to manage the traffic congestion along the highway. For DPS, the main focus is on Interstates 17 and 40. Highway 180 takes a back seat during snowy conditions. Lt. Ken Koch of the Flagstaff Police Department said alternatives to having officers managing traffic at intersections is necessary -- for instance, signs directing people away from Humphreys Street and South Milton Road to the Butler or Country Club exits.
The group discussed putting roadblocks on Highway 180 to manage incoming and outgoing traffic, but Gerard said such a measure would only move the congestion closer to the city. Signs to alternative routes will likely not be as effective as hoped because tourists on their way home generally only know one route to get home and will be uncomfortable taking an alternate route. Maps with directions for the alternative routes could be handed out at the snowplay areas, suggested J.R. Murray of the Arizona Snowbowl. The Visitor Center could be a repository of information about snowplay areas and alternatives for tourists coming into town. Karen Malis-Clark of the U.S. Forest Service said renting a low-wattage AM radio frequency for the winter months would allow agencies to inform tourists coming into the city of any congestion problems on Highway 180 and even direct them to alternative sites to play in the snow. Also possible would be to bus people to the area, but the feasibility of doing so hasn't been explored. Murray and Pribil both stressed that tourists shouldn't be deterred from coming to Flagstaff to play in the snow because many businesses depend on the commerce during the winter months.
What would fix the problem, the group discussed, would be alternative snowplay areas on different roads -- off Lake Mary Road, or Highway 89A. Additionally, more lanes on Highway 180, or an alternative route to the snowplay areas already established, would help. But those options require governmental action, the group concluded. Recently, the Flagstaff City Council decided to not move forward with a proposed snowplay area on the east side of the city at Country Club Drive on North Highway 89. A detention basin in the area became an impromptu snowplay area for people last winter. Parking issues soon arose and began to affect residents' quality of life. The Council decided to fence the area off to prevent people from using the basin as a snowplay area.