The Mesa City Council in a split vote approved Nov. 20 establishing a Williams Field Road speed limit of 45 mph between Crismon Road and the east city limits and 40 mph between Ellsworth Road and Crismon.
The council voted 4-3 to approve the increase from 40 mph for Crismon to the city limits and a decrease from 45 mph for Ellsworth to Crismon. Dissenting were Councilmembers Jenn Duff, Mark Freeman and Alicia Goforth.
The city needs to establish speed limits on Williams Field from Ellsworth to the east city limits as it is a mix of three existing, one recently annexed and two newly constructed road segments, none of which have a speed limit established in Mesa’s city code, Transportation Department Director RJ Zeder and City Traffic Engineer Ryan Hudson said in a memo to the council.
The transportation advisory board in May voted to recommend the road remain 40 mph between Crismon Road and the east city limits, Chair Michelle McCroskey said during the council meeting.
“Our biggest concern was the safety of bicycle riders with a posted speed of 45 mph,” she said. “Plus you’ve got Legacy sports park right down the street in 2 miles. It’s realistic to expect families to get on their bikes and ride over there.”
The transportation advisory board is an 11-member committee of resident volunteers who meet bimonthly to consider traffic and transportation matters.
Duff said she preferred the speed remain at 40 mph as recommended by the transportation advisory board.
“This is a perfect example of how we need to marry our land use with our roads. We have residential on the north side, proposed residential on the south side and in that context of being a community and a neighborhood we need to provide roads that are welcoming to all forms of mobility — walking, biking, a golf cart, whatever that is — to create community. Having ... a stretch of 45 mph is feeding the road and not welcoming to any user,” she said prior to the vote.
Councilmember Goforth also preferred the speed limit remain at 40 mph.
“We’re missing an opportunity, I think, in this one particular area to serve a greater number of people. As proposed, we serve the least number of users, the ones who are highly confident when riding in high-stress areas — and we’re talking about the bike lanes,” she said prior to the vote.
Residents of Eastmark overwhelmingly want 45 mph, according to an unofficial poll Councilmember Scott Somers did on social media, he said at the meeting.
“I posted it on the social media page and said, ‘We’re looking at increasing the speed; what’s your desire?’ And by an 8-1 margin 45 mph was what people wanted. It was 426-49. A handful of letters today didn’t change that. So I’m going to support what my residents have asked for — the 45 mph,” he said.
Richard H. Dyer can be reached at rdyer@iniusa.org, or on X @rhdyer. To voice your opinion on this story, connect with us at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.
Meet Richard Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.
Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions.
Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.
Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.
Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.
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