Frequently Asked Questions

Transportation Action Plan (TAP) is a 10-year transportation plan focused on maintaining existing transportation infrastructure and building safe and accessible travel for all users. It was approved by City Council in April 2022. Read more.

The public involvement plan for the TAP included a virtual open house and online questionnaire, project webpage, nine presentations to the Transportation Commission and two presentations to City Council from Jan. – Dec. 2021. The TAP webpage received over 2,200 visitors and the city received more than 500 comments from the community during the plan’s outreach process.

Public involvement processes are tailored to each specific transportation and streets project. Depending on the scale and scope of each proposed project, public outreach may include project notification (post cards, community newsletters, door-to-door canvassing), public meetings, project webpages, social media, attendance at neighborhood association meetings, and presentations to the Transportation Commission and other related city boards and commissions.

City planners classify streets as local, collector, and arterial streets. Street classifications are primarily determined by existing or projected daily traffic volumes and help establish a common understanding of the street’s use, character, and access from adjacent properties.

• Local streets have the lowest speed limits and provide the highest access to properties via driveways or parking lots connected to the road.
• Collector streets collect traffic from local streets and provide connections to arterial streets and small-scale commercial areas including schools, churches, and recreational facilities.
• Arterial streets carry a large volume of traffic at higher speeds and have limited access. Their primary function is to accommodate commuter and regional traffic, as well as provide connections to rural highways and urban freeways.

Roadways may be reclassified after a system-wide evaluation of traffic volume and road capacity trends. Road reclassifications may include adding or removing travel lanes and capacity based on traffic volumes, long-term travel patterns and surrounding development.

A Complete Street is designed to facilitate safe and comfortable access for all users. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit riders of all ages and abilities can safely move along and across a complete street. The city’s Complete Street Policy was approved by City Council as part of the Transportation Master Plan in 2008.

Road restriping projects coincide with pavement maintenance projects. Restriping projects maintain the physical size of the roadway design while removing excess travel lanes or, reconfiguring lanes to match adjacent street segments or lane widths, and/or add bike lanes to a road. Restriping projects maintain street widths and are reasonably easy to modify if needed. A “road diet” removes travel lanes to repurpose them for on-street parking or bike lanes and may include a narrowing of roadways using medians or curb modifications. A “road diet” is not an approach or a term included in the Scottsdale TAP.

The city’s Transportation Action Plan has identified 32 miles of roadway for evaluation and possible reclassification to meet current and projected traffic volumes. These projects will not modify curb widths on the roadways. Scottsdale’s Traffic Engineering Division has used this proven method of evaluating roads for more than 30 years.

Yes, as part of the city’s continued efforts to improve conditions for those with disabilities, ADA improvements are included in all city streetscape, pavement maintenance, and developer-driven projects. In 2022 the city paved and micro sealed 98 miles of roadway including 780 new and upgraded ADA ramps along sidewalks and roadways.

As part of the development process, each applicant must demonstrate that the existing street infrastructure can accommodate the anticipated amount of traffic, and if not propose appropriate mitigation measures including adding turn lanes and traffic signals. Because many of the new and proposed developments are on sites that have existing commercial zoning and land uses, the change in site-generated traffic volumes may be less or similar to previous projections.

Scottsdale has created no ride and no parking zones and regulations detailing where and how scooters can be parked. Scooter companies and riders can be cited for parking or moving violations by the police department. Read more.

The City’s Traffic Engineering Division publishes a biannual Traffic Volume & Collision Report (PDF). The reports date back to 1986 and provide a comprehensive overview of traffic volume and collision trends in Scottsdale.

The Traffic Volume & Collision report is published every two years and is a comprehensive overview of the city’s traffic volume and collision trends. Data generated by the report helps our traffic engineers evaluate intersections and street segments for future study and improvements. More than 200 intersections in the city are evaluated as part of the data collection process. To find out more, read the White Paper about the City’s Traffic Volume & Collision Report (PDF).

Based on the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Safety Countermeasures initiative (PSCi), the addition of bicycle lanes results in a 30-49 percent reduction in total collisions.

Research from the Federal Highway Administration says that 95 percent of crashes occur on roadways due to driver error or inattention. Buffered bike lanes are shown to improve safety; the separation between vehicles and bicyclists allows additional time for driver to correct the error. Read more from the Federal Highway Administration (PDF).

Excess vehicle capacity provides more room for cars to drive faster than the posted speed limit which can result in severe, high-injury crashes. Removal of excess capacity travel lanes can result in a 19-47 percent reduction in total collisions, according to the FHWA’s PSCi’s.

Scottsdale is a roundabout first city, which means that roundabouts are evaluated for effectiveness and feasibility in all projects that include intersections. According to the Federal Highway Administration, roundabouts are proven safety additions to transportation infrastructure, reducing severe crashes at intersections by up to 80%. In addition to lowering collision rates, and severity of collisions, roundabouts reduce delays and lower emissions. The city’s Roundabout First policy was approved by City Council as part of the Transportation Master Plan in 2016.

• Read more about Roundabouts
• Read the 2016 Transportation Master Plan (PDF)

A Complete Street is designed to facilitate safe and comfortable access for all users. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit riders of all ages and abilities can safely move along and across a complete street. The city’s Complete Street Policy was approved by City Council as part of the Transportation Master Plan in 2008.

Staff evaluation of Thomas Rd. revealed a critical need for structural roadway improvements between Miller Rd. and 56th St. The project includes a comprehensive approach to address the maintenance needs of the roadway and replace and/or upgrade water and sewer infrastructure under the road. This involves a recommended repaving treatment, modifying traffic signals, improved grading and drainage, and replacing non-compliant ADA pedestrian ramps. The lane striping will be restored to the current lane configuration.

ADA ramp upgrades are a part of all the city’s paving projects. Federal law requires cities to upgrade all ADA ramps to meet current standards and add ramps as needed on all road repaving projects.

Removing travel lanes on Thomas Road will not impact emergency vehicle response – these changes occur through restriping and do not include raised medians or narrowing the curb width. Emergency vehicle access throughout the project corridor will not be interrupted.

The project design is complete. Utility coordination is underway and city staff is starting to acquire temporary construction easements in the corridor. The project construction contract award will be presented to City Council for approval in the fall of 2023. Work on Thomas Road has been ongoing for several years; the Complete Street project will be the final phase of planned work along the roadway. Read the staff White Paper for a project timeline and detailed funding information.

The 68th St. Bike Lane project was complete in October of 2023. The project included roadway repaving and a lane restriping plan that added bike lanes between Indian School and Thomas roads. The project also included enhanced pedestrian crossings and left-turn bays for vehicles. This project provided a consistent roadway in the corridor and filled in a gap in the on-street bicycle network. Read more.

This project will complete the planned connection of Miller Road between Pinnacle Peak and Happy Valley roads and includes building a bridge over the Rawhide Wash. Construction began in July of 2023 and is expected to continue through the fall of 2024. This project will create a new option for north/south travel beyond Scottsdale and Pima roads and provides a direct connection to the Hayden Road / Loop 101 interchange. Read more.

The project will widen Pima Road to a major arterial street that includes three travel lanes in each direction with a landscaped median, bike lanes, sidewalk, and drainage improvements. This project is scheduled to be complete in the fall of 2024. Read more.

This project will widen Happy Valley Road to a minor arterial street that includes two travel lanes in each direction with a landscaped median, curb and gutter, bike lanes, sidewalk, and drainage improvements. The project also includes two single-lane roundabouts at Alma School Rd. and Golf Club Dr. This project is scheduled to be complete in fall of 2024. Read more.

The Raintree Drive Extension will provide a direct connection between the Loop 101 Freeway and Scottsdale Road. This extension will simplify the route from Hayden to Scottsdale roads by providing a consistent number of travel lanes and adding roundabouts to the corridor. The project is currently under construction and will be built in several phases. Read more.

This project will convert a two-mile segment of Scottsdale Road to a complete street by improving major intersections and adding landscaped medians, bike lanes, and sidewalks. The project includes adding travel lanes to Scottsdale Road and building a multi-lane roundabout at Dynamite Boulevard. Construction is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2024. This project adheres to the city’s Complete Streets policy providing better accommodations for all users. Read more.

Read the staff White Paper to learn more about the project.

Loop 101 is a regional freeway project to complete the widening of the Loop 101 through Scottsdale. The project will add one general purpose lane in each direction on between Pima Road/Princess Boulevard and Shea Boulevard and will modify existing interchanges to improve traffic flow on Loop 101 and the cross streets. Work on the project began in January of 2024 and is estimated to take two years to complete. Stay in the Loop by subscribing to project updates on ADOT’s website. Read more .

Work on the Loop 101 Widening project from Princess Drive to Shea Boulevard is scheduled to begin in winter 2023 and is estimated to take two years to complete.

Yes, the project includes reconstruction of the Loop 101 and Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard interchange and modifications at the Princess Drive, Raintree Drive and Shea Boulevard interchanges.