Prescott City council reviews $32.8M streets plan, boosts sidewalk, safety and Willow Creek studies

Prescott City council used its May 19 budget workshop to take a deep dive into public works spending for FY27, focusing on street and transportation operations and capital projects. Finance director Lars Johnson said the streets fund will draw on multiple sources — highway user revenue (HERF), Yavapai County flood control funding for drainage, street light fees, impact fees and the city’s 1% sales tax — projecting roughly $32.8 million available for streets operations and projects next year.

Public Works Director Gwen Roach outlined operating increases of about $1 million over FY26 to cover outsourcing for brush-tree-and-weed mitigation, sidewalk and alleyway remediation and a citywide study of traffic injury and fatalities directed by the council. Roach also flagged a corrected fleet slide from last week’s packet and confirmed fleet costs are recovered internally from across departments.

Transportation manager Ian Mattingley described expanded participation in Y Plan (formerly SIMPO), saying the regional planning organization has increased production from roughly one major transportation plan a year to four or five. Prescott currently pays about 27.31% of the local match and is budgeting up to $350,000 as its share; Mattingley said SIMPO‑written grants and regional projects will return direct benefits to the city, with staff estimating about $971,000 in study funding that otherwise would fall to the city.

Council members and staff discussed bringing pavement marking and striping in‑house: council previously approved purchase of a long‑line striping truck and thermoplastic material, and Public Works will hire a striping operator to join the traffic and sign crew. Roach said the city will shift most of a roughly $300,000 contract spend into materials and internal operations while keeping a specialized contractor for overflow work.

Capital priorities emphasized a stepped sidewalk repair and reconstruction program ($1 million annually proposed) to address trip hazards and ADA gaps, the next phase of a five‑year downtown removable bollard (ballard) program ($300,000/year), and a Miller Valley Road/Grove reconstruction that would correct ADA deficiencies and realign Rodeo Drive. Tim Sherwood, capital program manager, estimated the Miller Valley project at about $5.3 million and said design was roughly 60% complete.

Willow Creek Road emerged as a standalone capital item: staff described widening roughly 2,200 feet between Jenna and James lanes and said the FY27 packet shows a $2.88 million city outlay for the project, with the city pursuing a $600,000 economic‑strength grant (through the first round) that would reduce the net city cost if awarded. Staff noted coordination with developer obligations at the James Lane intersection and potential partnership with SIMPO and the county for scope beyond the intersection.

Prescott also plans a citywide serious‑injury collision root‑cause analysis tied to council strategic goals; staff said the study would help identify infrastructure or education improvements and strengthen grant applications. The FY27 schedule includes completion of remaining signal coordination work (smart or coordinated signals and responsive detection) so most arterials will operate in series or with modern detection by next fiscal year.

Finally, staff briefed council on drainage priorities (a Yapai Hills drainage bid opening next week with an engineer’s estimate near $778,000) and a planned consolidation/phase‑two relocation of the street maintenance yard to improve material storage, covered snow‑material storage and vehicle wash facilities. Council did not take formal votes; staff will return with detailed scopes, grant outcomes and any adjustments requested at the May 26 follow‑up study session.