N.M. 528 Access Limited To Keep Traffic Moving

MORE N.M. 528 AND MORE ACCESS DON’T MIX: Kathy Brown says via email “I do not mind progress, but the more homes going up off of High Resort, Northern, Loma Colorado, North Hills, Western Hills, Idalia and Enchanted Hills, etc., means two to three cars per household. That is about 3,000 more cars in Rio Rancho.

“When are they going to widen N.M. 528 from Southern to U.S. 550 to eight lanes? Also, how are businesses to survive if the patrons have to go a mile or two down the road to get to their business to eat or shop?”

“Just the other day,” Kathy says, she saw a “car turn left going north in the southbound lane of 528 from one of those businesses and had no way to correct his problem for 1/2 mile or so. An off-duty police (officer) stop(ped) the car and the traffic so that person could correct his way. I know, because I was watching this unfold at the light at Sara and 528.”

That sounds less like an access issue and more like a confusion/distracted driving one — though an argument could be made for frequent median cuts for all our wrong-way drivers to right themselves.

Tony Abbo, the assistant district engineer for the New Mexico Department of Transportation’s District 3 office, explains that access on 528 is limited by design in order to keep traffic moving. “N.M. 528 is a high-speed, limited-access control facility, no different than Tramway or Paseo del Norte.”

And there’s a lot of traffic to move. In fact, according to the Mid-Region Council of Governments, since 2008 the 11.1 miles of N.M. 528 have ranked No. 21 on its most congested corridors. According to the agency’s 2009 traffic counts, on the average weekday the highway handled 46,300 vehicles at Southern and 27,900 at U.S. 550.

Abbo says NMDOT does have plans to widen the highway. “We have kicked off a project to look at the section between the Southern and Northern intersections.”

Meanwhile, Phil Gallegos, District 3′s spokesman, says adding lanes won’t improve Kathy’s access situation. You can’t move that much traffic efficiently and still give it all access to every business.

“This is a high-volume road,” he says, “and adding lanes will help with the commute but severely limit direct access to businesses due to unsafe traffic movements. Traffic must adjust (its) ingress and egress to businesses to safely fit the situation.”

And hopefully without a police escort.

WHAT’S WITH THE NEW CROSSWALK ON CABEZON? Drivers should have noticed the new day-glo pedestrian signs and curb cuts just east of Western Hills and near the northwest corner of the park/pool complex.

Rio Rancho Assistant City Manager Laura Fitzpatrick says “the crosswalk was put in to provide a safer alternative to cross Cabezon Boulevard. A public meeting was held on Feb. 16 of this year at the Cabezon Community Center to get input from residents about the then-proposed crossing.”

And while the crosswalk is intended to provide a safer way for pedestrians to get around, it is separate from the roundabout planned nearby.

“This crosswalk is not related to the proposed roundabout for Western Hills Boulevard and Cabezon Boulevard,” Fitzpatrick says. “No funding has been identified for its construction.”

Assistant editorial page editor D’Val Westphal tackles commuter issues for the Metro area on Mondays and West Siders and Rio Ranchoans on Thursdays. Reach her at 823-3858; road@abqjournal.com; P.O. Drawer J, Albuquerque, NM 87103; or go to abqjournal.com/traffic.