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CORRALES SEWER WORK HITS COORS: Crews are scheduled to continue working through Sept. 28 hooking up a village sewer line to the city-county system at the busy Coors-Corrales/Alameda intersection. That means lane closures for West Side, Rio Rancho and Corrales commuters.
The work is a continuation of Corrales sewer construction that began in 2010. Back in April, crews on the project’s second phase discovered an old drainage pipe that runs to a drop inlet, which drains water off the roadway. It had not been identified during the preliminary work and forced lane closures when the pavement cracked and collapsed.
This week, crews started Phase 3, which is boring under the roadway to tie the village line into the bigger system. Phil Gallegos, who handles information for the New Mexico Department of Transportation’s District 3 office, says the work will run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and primarily affect northbound traffic. Northbound Coors will be down to one lane from around Pep Boys/Rudy’s through the Alameda intersection.
“There’s going to be a little bit of a bottleneck,” he says. NMDOT is recommending drivers who can take alternate routes into and out of Corrales do so.
Crews will start boring from the Flying Star south toward the intersection. When they start to bore under Alameda, Gallegos says, a lane on northbound Coors will be closed to accommodate equipment and open pits for the crews.
Drivers will also lose the sweeping free right turn from westbound to northbound. They will still be able to turn right, he says, they will just have to go up to the intersection and do a 90-degree turn at the signal.
In addition, the double-left turn from eastbound to northbound will be trimmed to one lane for the project.
SEWER LINE WORK HASN’T CLOSED CORRALES: And about that caution from NMDOT to steer clear of the intersection if possible. The businesses of Corrales have a message for motorists:
They are open, ready and waiting for you.
Mayor Phil Gasteyer says “some members of the Corrales business community have voiced their concern to me. … We do not anticipate any interruption to access to any business either in the village or near the intersection in Albuquerque’s northwest corner.
“Normal business hours will be observed,” Gasteyer says. “The sewer transmission line installation involves bore pits and directional drilling underground at varying depths along the east side of Corrales Road and Coors. For a brief period during the next two months, the right-turn lane from westbound Alameda to northbound Corrales Road will be closed; there will be multiple-shifts by our sewer contractor to speed that work.”
“The public should be assured that there is no need to avoid Corrales shops, restaurants and galleries during this final phase of the sewer construction.”
EDITH SCHEDULED TO RE-OPEN TODAY: This week Bernalillo County crews have also been busy, installing the fence covering the new Alameda Trail pedestrian bridge.
The work closed Edith daily from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. starting on Monday. It is scheduled to wrap up this afternoon.
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, N.M. 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
