I-25 Bridge To Carry Bikes Over Safely

NEW PEDESTRIAN/BIKE BRIDGE OVER I-25: As the huge concrete supports go up on either side of Interstate 25 just south of San Mateo, so have the questions.

Noel Chervenak emails: “I’ve noticed a — perhaps — overpass from the south side of Texas Road House and extending across I-25. Any idea what this is?”

Yes. It’s a “new bike/pedestrian crossing over I-25 that will connect the Osuna bike lanes on the east side of I-25 to the Bear Arroyo Trail on the west side.”

Mark Motsko of the city’s Department of Municipal Development says the $1.8 million bridge — paid for with general obligation bonds and federal funds — is one of several “projects to improve bicycle and pedestrian access along the North Diversion Trail and provide access to both sides of Interstate 25.”

The others are “four trail under crossings at Menaul, Candelaria, Comanche and Osuna along the North Diversion Trail. These under crossings will allow bicyclists and pedestrians to use the trail without having to cross multiple lanes of traffic at these busy arterial roads.” That work adds up to $4.8 million and is being paid for with general obligation bonds, quarter-cent Transportation Tax funds and federal money.

The under crossings mean “a person will be able to use the trail from Indian School Road north to Balloon Fiesta Park without having to cross traffic,” according to Mayor Richard Berry. The bridge “connects major sections of our bike system,” according to DMD Director Michael Riordan.

All five projects are scheduled to be complete this summer.

Going through my stack of reader correspondence recently, I found a few questions from last year that are unquestionably evergreen:

HOW LONG CAN A RESIDENT DRIVE WITH AN OUT-OF-STATE PLATE? Doug Priestap emailed: “I’m curious: Just what is the law pertaining to how long a person, after moving here, has until they have to obtain a New Mexico license plate? Today, while making the 1-mile trip to the Rio Rancho Post Office, I spotted a car with a Texas plate — with no month/year stickers! — an Alaskan plate, as well as one from Colorado.

“Texas, Arizona and Colorado seem to be the most popular,” Doug goes on, “but, I’ve seen plates from almost all 50 states (and) Mexico! These can’t be all tourists. It seems to me that both the sheriff and the Rio Rancho police could be pulling these people over, checking for outstanding warrants among other things, and issuing a ‘fix-it’ ticket and giving these people whatever deadline we have to go get a New Mexico plate. For a city/county/state that is strapped for income, this appears to be a ‘no brainer’. Get these people who are bypassing whatever law we have to pay up and convert plates to the state they now live in!”

According to the state Motor Vehicle Division, “state law requires a person to title and register a vehicle within 30 days of becoming a resident.”

And state statute says driving without a current New Mexico plate is worth a $10 fine if it’s less than 31 days overdue, 75 percent of the registration fee if it’s more than 31 days overdue, and “any duly appointed deputy or agent of the department has the authority to seize the vehicle and hold it until the fee, penalty and any fine that may be imposed for violation of law are paid and may sell the vehicle in the manner provided by law for the distraint and sale of personal property.”

HOLD PUBLIC EMPLOYEE DRIVERS TO CDL REQUIREMENT? Vic Dawley emailed last year something that “has been bothering me for most of the 5-plus years I have lived in New Mexico: If someone drives on a CDL (commercial driver’s license) and gets stopped for suspected DWI, the (presumed level of intoxication) is .04 (percent). For the rest of us it is .08.

“I wish someone would propose to the Legislature that all public employees in New Mexico who drive a municipal vehicle as a part of their job be held to the .04 limit on the job or off. That would include police, fire, maintenance workers and any elected official who is given a car to drive. This might give people something to think about, and it might even go a long way to clean up the problem we have here.”

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 to read previous columns and join in the conversation.
— This article appeared on page A4 of the Albuquerque Journal