The Scottsdale City Council (SCC) has been approving plans to eliminate lanes on roads in the city and replace them with bicycle lanes, known as “road diets.”
This is causing a wave of concern from Scottsdale residents over the increasing traffic congestion. A road diet approved last March particularly angered residents since it was in the city’s popular Old Town entertainment district. Mason Gates, one of the candidates running for the SCC this year, has prioritized opposition to them.
Gates spoke at an SCC meeting on Tuesday against road diets. He said he discussed with a business owner near the Old Town road diet, who said he was not consulted in preliminary talks before the SCC decided to construct a road diet there. Protect Scottsdale reported that 23 business owners in the vicinity signed a petition opposing the road diet, but their concerns were dismissed. According to Gates, Rich Bonura, the owner of BEG Bakery, told him “he often sees buses, semi-trucks, and other vehicles parked in the bike lane that is intended for cyclists. This can pose a grave danger for cyclists who need to avoid parked vehicles by swerving into traffic lanes where drivers may not expect to see them.”
The same council members have also come under fire for voting for new high-density developments. Gates said during his speech, “If the same council members voting in favor of high density developments are also prioritizing the reduction of traffic lanes, I have to ask, what are we doing here?”
Gates told The Arizona Sun Times that a large contingent of bicyclists showed up at the meeting to speak in favor of road diets, identifying themselves as residents of Phoenix and Tempe. He said the SCC needs to prioritize the concerns of Scottsdale residents, not the demands of people in other cities who want to use Scottsdale.
Gates said during his public comment, “[A]ccording to a 2022 survey from Statista’s Global Consumer Survey, 76 percent of American commuters use a personal vehicle to travel from home to work, while only 10 percent ride their bike, and 11 percent rely on public transport.”
Gates told The Sun Times that the city should not be prioritizing the wants of a small minority over everyone else. He noted that most bicycle riders appear to be unemployed or retired, so road diets aren’t helping commuters. Gates has talked to thousands of voters, and not one has said they approve of the road diets.
On his website, Gates singled out Council Member Tammy Caputi and Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega for “position[ing] themselves as unflinching proponents of this destructive initiative.” During an SCC meeting last year, Caputi addressed the criticism. “Political agitators and even some council members are using false facts,” she said, “to try to control our agenda.”
There are three seats up for election this fall on the SCC. Council Member Betty Janik is not running for reelection; Caputi and Tom Durham are. Ortega, who, as mayor, also serves on the SCC, is up for reelection.
A source familiar with the makeup of the SCC told The Sun Times that both Caputi and Durham support road diets and high-density housing and take other positions hostile to conservatives, so there are several conservatives, in addition to Gates challenging them this fall, who are eligible to run for any of the three seats.
The news site SCNR described Scottsdale’s implementation of road diets, “In Scottsdale, city officials have also moved forward with road diets, effectively creating choke points in areas that are highly trafficked where demand for road space remains unchanged, adding time to driving commutes and frustrating local residents.”
Climate change is usually cited as the reason for road diets. Opponents of road diets contend that the progressives who run cities are “intentionally making it so miserable to drive that people will have no choice but to choose other ways to travel.” Dan Farley, president of Tea Party AZ, posted on X, “Road diets! It’s not just happening in Scottsdale. It’s happening all over the metro area! Federal funding to drive a federal agenda/WEF/Soros/global communist technocracy agenda by printing our money (inflation) & taxing us more has been stealing our 10th amendment rights & our local control of government & it needs to come to an end! Most residents have no idea the road lanes they paid for w their taxes are about to be stolen from them!”
Farley linked to a video of an SCC meeting where four council members voted against sending road diets to the ballot so voters could decide instead of the SCC. Council Member Solange Whitehead justified her no vote, “Public safety is Scottsdale’s primary job. It’s not up for a public vote. We don’t ask the citizens what the speed limit should be, whether Pima Road should be widened. … It’s our job.” The video said council members want road diets because it brings in more federal dollars.
The website Protect Scottsdale has compiled videos about the road diet projects in Scottsdale.
Road diets! It’s not just happening in Scottsdale. It’s happening all over the metro area! Federal funding to drive a federal agenda/WEF/Soros/global communist technocracy agenda by printing our money (inflation) & taxing us more has been stealing our 10th amendment rights & our… pic.twitter.com/sr21gn05k3
— Dan Farley 🇺🇸 (@realDanFarley) April 24, 2023
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter / X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Bike Riders” by City of Scottsdale – Government.
