Carefree Highway median break may not be constructed
by Jason Stone

CAVE CREEK – The recall is still on, but the mayor is not part of it–at least for now. And the controversial median break from eastbound Carefree Highway into the CVS Pharmacy property may not become a reality.

A group rallying to recall Cave Creek Mayor Vincent Francia and four council members officially turned in petition signatures to Town Clerk Carrie Dyrek last week. But in a twist, the Cave Creek Residents for Traffic Safety did not submit a petition for the recall of Francia–just Vice Mayor Dick Esser and Councilmen Ernie Bunch, Gilbert Lopez and Thomas McGuire.

Jim Peirce, the Carefree resident who initiated the recall of the mayor and four councilmen, submitted the required recall petition signatures for Esser, Bunch, Lopez and McGuire on May 5, but said he is holding off turning in a petition seeking Francia’s recall. Pierce did not give a specific reason for not including Francia, despite already having enough signatures to qualify for a mayoral recall vote.

“At this time it would be effective to turn in four sets (of recall petitions),” Peirce said. “It’s still a possibility. We haven’t decided yet.”

Cave Creek Residents for Traffic Safety protested the five councilmen’s vote to allow what many residents consider an unsafe left‑turn median break on Carefree Highway just west of Cave Creek Road and started the recall process a day after the April 17 council meeting where the vote took place.

Francia said he does not know why a recall petition seeking his dismissal was not filed.

And in another twist, the chairman of the recall group, John Russell, is no longer pushing for the councilmen’s ouster after town officials last week told him that many factors will likely keep the median break from happening. In light of that probability, according to Russell, he did not want Peirce to submit the recall petitions.

“There is now a difference of opinion about the recall,” said Russell, a ranch owner near the intersection. “If in fact it (the recall) is a traffic safety issue, the traffic safety issue has gone away.”

The safety issue has far from gone away, but the town last week indicated it is taking steps to improve the dangerous intersection of Cave Creek Road and Carefree Highway. Plans for adding a second left‑turn lane on northbound Cave Creek Road to turn west on Carefree Highway are being expedited to help relieve afternoon rush‑hour traffic.

A second turn lane might also have the ramifications of making the proposed median break unsafe in the eyes of the Maricopa County Department of Transportation, which is advising the town in all intersection improvements.

The councilmen who voted in favor of the median break claimed they did so only after a MCDOT engineering report failed to declare the median break unsafe. Despite their own personal reservations about the safety of a break in such close proximity to a major intersection, the mayor, vice mayor and three councilmen said the MCDOT report was the basis of their vote.

Francia is now reconsidering MCDOT’s advice because the agency did not refer to the break as “safe,” only as “better” than a pervious plan that had the break 70 feet closer to the intersection.

The mayor has asked MCDOT and Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley for a clarification. If Francia finds evidence that it is still unsafe, he may ask town council to reconsider the issue at a future council meeting.

“It’s my belief and understanding that the median break at 54th Street will not happen, period, despite the vote,” Russell said.

Francia said he has had good communication with Russell but wishes he or the group would have spoken out prior to the controversial vote, as only two Carefree residents spoke agaisnt the median break before town council.

“We could have avoided a recall,” Francia said. “They could have called me. I’m listed in the phone book. Actually, I live a stone’s throw away from Mr. Russell. He could have come over.”

The intersection has been contentious over the past decade because of the increased number of vehicles it serves daily. The town has already set aside $460,000 for adding the northbound Cave Creek Road left‑hand turn lane onto westbound Carefree Highway.

The intersection will also be part of a larger corridor study that MCDOT is conducting on Carefree Highway. The study will focus on the future needs of the increasingly busy roadway and will involve Cave Creek, Scottsdale, Phoenix, the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Maricopa Association of Governments.