Clear
28°
Email
STRIPING, TIMING IN SHORT SUPPLY IN RIO RANCHO: Doug Priestap of Rio Rancho emails “as someone who travels Meadowlark/Southern across (N.M.) 528 every day, I couldn’t help notice that it has been years since the city has painted the lines/arrows/crosswalk and the medians. I’m sure that this problem exists throughout Rio Rancho, but this particular intersection is always congested with Smith’s (and) Wells Fargo on the one side and Walgreens and CVS on the other.
“The arrow that is there pointing straight/right-turn optional is barely readable. And, while we’re on the subject of trying to travel westbound on Meadowlark/Southern at 528, how about sending a traffic engineer out there between 4:30 and 5 p.m. on any weekday? Not only does traffic get backed up into the middle of the road, the light is 10 seconds shorter than coming the other way. Seems to me that if they extend the time another 15 seconds for us westbound drivers, you’d have less congestion at a very busy and dangerous intersection!”
First, the striping or lack thereof. Peter Wells, communications officer for Rio Rancho, says “striping work, etc., on the Meadowlark Lane side is currently slated for this summer.”
Second, the westbound green signal timing or shortage thereof. Wells says “city traffic engineers indicate that no extra time can be allotted to westbound traffic, as minimizing northbound N.M. 528 rush hour traffic backup is the highest priority. Allocating more time to westbound traffic will increase northbound backup and associated delays.”
CORRALES SCHOOLS ROCK THE WALK AND ROLL: Corrales Elementary and Cottonwood Montessori consistently had students, parents and educators walk or ride their bikes to school during the 2011-12 school year.
A news release from the Safe Routes to School program says the schools “had three routes available to students and staff once a month, including on National Bike Day. Sandia View Academy also participated in National Bike Day.”
Nancy Kimball, SRTS chairwoman and a Corrales Elementary teacher, says in the release “the percentage of bikers and walkers has increased dramatically. Out of the 420 students surveyed monthly at Corrales Elementary, approximately 21 percent to 23 percent bike or walk to school on a regular basis, which is more than twice the percentage of surveys completed at the beginning of the school year.”
In fact, Corrales Elementary took the Safe Routes to School “Walk-N-Roll” program from once a year to every Thursday and Friday, and 10 days straight during school testing.
The program owes its success to more than just the cyclists and walkers. Laura M. Montoya, SRTS co-champion, gives credit to “the community of Corrales for supporting Walk-N-Roll and becoming more aware of pedestrian and bike safety as well as crosswalk awareness. Many of our volunteers, including Kiwanis, parents and the Village of Corrales, have really allowed this program to grow and be a lot of fun for everyone involved.”
And it will continue through the summer. Next up is Corrales Crosswalk Awareness Day, from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at the crosswalk in front of the Recreation Center off Jones Road. The news release says “immediately following, SRTS will sponsor a bike rodeo that will be administered by the City of Albuquerque’s Bicycle Safety Education Program, from noon to 2 p.m.”
The rodeo is free, can handle 25 students each hour, and there will be some bikes and helmets available for children who don’t have their own. For more information or to sign up, call Montoya at 505-718-9894. She says “I really we hope that we can get a lot of kids to participate this weekend. It should be a lot of fun.”
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 1 of the West Side Journal
