As the Sedona Red Rock News reported, Councilman Pete Furman said the garage "opens itself up to be a great test ground of what we can actually see and learn".
The comment came during an August 25 council meeting where members voted 6-0 to approve another contract tied to the project. Furman wasn't describing a ribbon-cutting. He was describing why the city needs a formal performance audit once the garage finally opens, because right now nobody can say with confidence when that will be.
If you've been telling yourself the garage would be running by the time the leaves turn and the festival calendar fills up, it's worth resetting that expectation. As of the Sedona Red Rock News report on September 4, the $28.25 million structure on Forest Road is now expected to open in December or January, not this fall. That's the third pushed date in under a year, and it lands at the worst possible moment: right as Uptown heads into its busiest six weeks of the year.
The Garage's Revised Opening Timeline
The timeline shows how the expected opening date has changed.
In October 2025, city staff told council the 270-space structure was on track for completion in May 2026. By January 2026, with excavation and structural work about 70% finished, the estimate had slipped to June. Now, per the September update, it's December or January at the earliest. Three different completion windows in eleven months, each one arriving later than the last.
The delay is tied to work on the water system beneath Forest Road.
Water System Work Affects the Opening Timeline
When Arizona Water Co. asked the city in mid-July to expand its water system modeling beyond the immediate garage footprint, the analysis turned up an issue: high velocities in multiple existing 4-inch and 6-inch water mains feeding Uptown. Deputy City Manager Andy Dickey put it directly to the council, that this was when the extent of the existing system issue and the need for broader water system improvements became clear.
The fix now folded into the project includes $3.7 million for water main upgrades and Forest Road sidewalk improvements, split between roughly $2.54 million for previously planned road work and about $1.2 million for the water system itself. A related contract went to J. Banicki Construction Inc. The delay traces to the water system beneath Uptown rather than to the garage structure, and the city has chosen to fund those upgrades now so the garage can open with the pipes serving it in place.
Every Weekend Between Now and Halloween
None of this pauses the calendar. Uptown and West Sedona are about to run through one of the densest event stretches the city sees all year, on the same parking supply that's been squeezing residents for the last two seasons:
- October 1 to 4 — Sedona Yoga Festival
- October 3 — 7th Annual WagFest at Posse Grounds Park
- October 3 and 4 — Sedona Rock, Gem & Jewelry Show, Sedona Red Rock High School
- October 10 and 11 — Sedona Arts Festival, celebrating its 35th anniversary at Sedona Red Rock High School
- October 16 to 24 — Sedona Plein Air Festival, its 22nd year
- October 17 — Fest of Fall at Posse Grounds Park, and Pumpkin Splash the same day
- October 29 to 31 — Marigold Mural Project on Calle Independencia
- October 31 — trick-or-treating in Uptown Sedona
Two of the biggest draws, the Rock, Gem & Jewelry Show and the Arts Festival, sit at the same campus a week apart, which means Sedona Red Rock High School's lot does double duty as an unofficial overflow valve for Uptown twice in one month. The Arts Festival itself is getting a rare admission break this year. Executive Director Lori Reinhart said the nonprofit wanted to celebrate by making this event more accessible than ever, dropping the usual gate price to $5 for the milestone weekend thanks to a City of Sedona grant. Lower admission tends to mean higher turnout, not lower demand for a parking spot.
Uptown Parking Supply and Peak-Period Demand
The city's own math from earlier this year lays out exactly how tight Uptown parking already runs, and how much the garage is supposed to change that once it's actually operating.
| Measure | Current supply | Once the garage is operating |
|---|---|---|
| Physical parking inventory | 881 spaces | roughly 1,150 spaces |
| Effective supply (adjusted for turnover) | 749 spaces | roughly 980 spaces |
| Estimated peak-period demand | about 860 spaces | about 860 spaces |
| Gap at peak demand | about 110 spaces short | supply exceeds demand |
That 110-space deficit isn't hypothetical. It's the city's own estimate of how far short Uptown parking runs during its busiest hours right now, before you add a 35th-anniversary festival with $5 admission into the mix. The garage is designed to erase that gap entirely. Until it opens, the gap stays open too, and it will be open through every weekend on the list above.
What Actually Helps This Month
None of the near-term fixes are new, but they're the only ones that exist until winter.
The Sedona Shuttle runs free Trailhead Routes Thursday through Sunday from two Park & Ride lots, no reservation required, and a separate on-demand Sedona Shuttle Connect service that logged 14,396 rides through fiscal year 2025. Both are aimed at trailheads more than festival grounds, but they pull cars out of circulation that would otherwise be hunting for street parking near the Y.
For anyone actually parking in Uptown, the PassportParking app handles pay-by-phone at metered spaces along Main Street and SR 89A, with a 10-cent convenience fee and Parking Zone 846 as the code to enter. It's a small detail, but it saves the walk back to a pay station during a festival crowd. Some of the free all-day lots that longtime residents rely on have also shrunk. Lot 1 on Jordan Road was sold outright to the Sedona Fire District for its new station, permanently removing 70 spaces from the public count, and Lot 8 across from the garage site is in the process of being sold as well.
Parking Enforcement Questions Still Under Discussion
Even after the garage opens, how the city polices it hasn't been fully settled. Council spent part of its January discussion on whether to use automatic license plate readers for enforcement at the new garage and other city-managed lots, a subject made touchier by the previous summer's controversy over Flock Safety plate readers, which were briefly installed on city streets and then pulled. Councilman Derek Pfaff pushed for clear rules so the system isn't picking up anybody who happens to drive by, and Councilwoman Melissa Dunn asked for assurances that facial recognition wouldn't be part of it. Interim Mayor Holli Ploog noted that similar assurances didn't hold up with the Flock program. Data retention is currently slated at 30 days, with citation appeals taking about 20 days to process. None of that changes anything about parking this month, but it's a preview of what the garage brings with it once it's running: not just more spaces, but a new layer of monitoring that residents will be adjusting to right alongside visitors.
The garage will eventually solve the math. This fall, the math is still what it's always been, and the festival calendar isn't waiting for construction crews to catch up.
If Uptown on a festival Saturday is part of why you love living here, Arizonadise keeps a small set of design-forward Sedona stays within walking distance of the action, close enough that the parking count stops being your problem for the weekend.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
