How Flagstaff’s Roads Have Changed in the Last 100 Years
- Mountain Mojo Group
- May 15
- 3 min read
Flagstaff’s roads have come a long way. In just over 100 years, we’ve gone from dirt wagon trails to a city that prioritizes multimodal infrastructure, traffic calming, and connected neighborhoods. Join us as we look back at where we started, the milestones that shaped our road network, and what’s next in the evolution of Greater Flagstaff’s streets.
Where We Started
In the early 1900s, most of Flagstaff’s roads were unpaved. Gravel and dirt were the norm, with wagons and trains doing most of the heavy lifting.
The arrival of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad in 1882 was the first major transportation milestone, connecting Flagstaff to national freight and passenger rail routes. At the time, dirt roads and basic wagon trails linked homes, ranches, and small businesses across the region.
By 1914, Arizona reorganized its territorial roads into a state highway system, incorporating routes like Beale’s Wagon Road, which passed through Flagstaff, as part of early state infrastructure.
The designation of U.S. Route 66 in 1926 was a game-changer. The highway ran directly through downtown, boosting tourism, freight access, and business activity. Between 1928 and 1940, Flagstaff’s population jumped from 3,000 to over 5,000—a shift largely driven by increased automobile traffic and national interest in road travel.
As neighborhoods grew, so did the city’s street grid. Lanes were added, signals installed, and rail crossings integrated into daily traffic.
By the mid-20th century, the automobile was king. Flagstaff’s roads were designed primarily for drivers, with little consideration for pedestrians or cyclists. That’s something that’s changed significantly over the past few decades.
Major Milestones in Our Development
Flagstaff has made major strides in shifting from car-first infrastructure to people-first planning, particularly in the last 25 years. The city has redefined how its roads serve residents, students, and visitors through targeted upgrades and an intentional long-term strategy.
Sidewalks, bike lanes, and pedestrian crossings became standard in both new developments and retrofit projects across neighborhoods. According to the City of Flagstaff's Engineering Division, over 100 miles of sidewalks and more than 50 miles of bike lanes have been added since the 1990s.
Mountain Line launched in 2001, providing public transit service across Flagstaff. In its first decade, Mountain Line saw over 1 million annual boardings and continues to serve thousands of daily riders. It now offers more than 700,000 annual trips and helps reduce the use of single-occupancy vehicles.
In 2006, Flagstaff earned the Silver-Level Bicycle Friendly Community designation from the League of American Bicyclists. The designation recognizes a city's infrastructure, education, enforcement, and encouragement efforts for cycling safety and accessibility.
Traffic calming features such as roundabouts, speed humps, pedestrian hybrid beacons (PHBs), and narrowed lanes have been strategically implemented in school zones and residential areas to reduce speeding and increase visibility.
Together, these efforts represent Flagstaff’s shift toward a Complete Streets approach—designing roadways to accommodate everyone, whether they’re walking, biking, rolling, or driving. This model has become a guiding principle in both new construction and city-led redevelopment projects.
Where We’re Headed
The future of Greater Flagstaff’s road network is about more than asphalt. It’s about access, safety, and sustainability—and building a system that works for everyone, whether they’re traveling by car, foot, bike, wheelchair, or bus.
Complete Streets guides how we plan and design all new roadway projects, ensuring every user is considered in roadway layout, signal timing, and crossing design.
The Active Transportation Master Plan provides a strategic framework for walking and biking infrastructure, with goals to close sidewalk gaps, expand bike networks, and prioritize safety for non-drivers.
The Regional Plan 2045 ties these efforts into land use planning, growth management, and environmental sustainability to guide Greater Flagstaff’s long-term development.
Several large-scale infrastructure projects are already putting these ideas into practice:
Lone Tree Corridor upgrades will help alleviate traffic and add bike lanes, crosswalks, and safety signals.
Fourth & Lockett Roundabout is reengineering a busy four-leg intersection with pedestrian hybrid beacons and improved geometry to reduce crashes and delays.
Butler Avenue improvements will transform a car-heavy arterial into a more walkable and connected corridor adjacent to NAU.
These changes are driven by community feedback and years of planning to make Flagstaff safer, more efficient, and easier to navigate—for everyone.
We’ve Come a Long Way. Let’s Go Even Further. Join the Movement for a Safer, Greater Flagstaff!
Greater Flagstaff is growing—and so is its commitment to safe, sustainable infrastructure. In recent years, investments in pedestrian crossings, bicycle networks, and public transit have made everyday travel more accessible.
But there’s still more to do. As new neighborhoods emerge and traffic patterns shift, it’s critical that safety and connectivity remain central to every project.
Every crosswalk, bike lane, and transit route reflects years of planning, community engagement, and thoughtful design. MetroPlan is proud to support this ongoing work through education, advocacy, and local partnerships.
With your help, we can continue building a safer, smarter, and more connected Flagstaff for everyone.
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