Bernalillo County, City Working on Safety at Tower and Coors

MORE ON THE DOG-LEG LANE AT TOWER AND COORS: After a reader questioned the striping setup at this intersection — that all approaching eastbound Tower traffic had to move to the left without a merge warning — the county has an update.

Not only has “the pinch point on Tower just to the west (been) paved to make it four lanes,” as Bernalillo County Operations and Maintenance director David Mitchell said earlier this month, but signs and signals guy Robert Baker says “the problem is there is no advance warning signs or pavement markings indicating that the left lane is a left-turn only at the intersection. … We would need to add another set of arrows, a (left-turn) only and add dotted lines (known as) elephant tracks further to the west indicating that the left lane is leaving the mainline.

Mitchell says the county is coordinating with the city on the spotty jurisdiction in the area, as well as with the best way to make navigating the intersection safely clearer to motorists.

WHAT’S WITH THE DIRT AND THE NEW ROAD BY I-25? Richard and Donna Peck email that “on the east side of Interstate 25 at the 237 mile marker, earth-moving equipment has loaded many truckloads of excavated dirt onto a caravan of trucks that head north, cross under I-25, and head south along a newly constructed side-road west of I-25. Near the 235 mile marker, the dirt’s been piled up in a large new hill. A new subdivision? New site for viewing the balloon fiesta? What’s up? Can you tell us what’s going on?

And Jerry Gruebner of Placitas called to ask about “the road on the west side of Interstate 25,” saying first it was dirt, then paved, and it seems to go from a residential area to Tramway.

Phil Gallegos, who handles information for the New Mexico Department of Transportation’s District 3 office, says “this location is on The Sandia Reservation and most likely one of their projects.”

WAITING FOR THE LIGHT TO OPEN BLACK ARROYO: Myrna asks via email “when — if ever — is the city of Albuquerque going to open Black Arroyo from Unser to Golf Course? Looks as though it would be fairly easy to do, and what a boon it would be for those of us in Stone Bridge and nearby areas.”

Mark Motsko, who handles information for the city of Albuquerque’s Department of Municipal Development, says this extension is not programmed, i.e. funded, now, so in the meantime drivers can take Wellspring from Unser to Westside and then to Golf Course.

VOTERS KILLED BROADMOOR CONNECTION: Jane emails “now that the Sandoval Regional Medical Center is open, are there any plans to complete the short section of Broadmoor from Northern to Paseo del Volcan? This would save valuable time for emergency vehicles and anyone needing to get to SRMC for emergency situations or doctor visits.”

It would, and the city agrees. But building the link would take almost $6 million, and voters said no to picking up the tab last year.

Peter Wells, the city’s communications officer, says “the March 2011 general obligation bond special election for roads, which would have funded projects in 2011 and 2013, had the Broadmoor Boulevard extension listed for 2013.

That bond question read: “2013 Broadmoor Boulevard Design and Construction (design and construct Broadmoor Boulevard from Paseo del Volcan to Norwich Avenue; Broadmoor Boulevard is currently paved only from Country Club Drive to Norwich Avenue): $5,980,000.”

“Voters did not approve this bond measure,” Wells says. But the city didn’t give up. “The city did submit a federal grant request to fund this project,” he says, “but has received notification that the city was not selected for funding.”

So now the work is being done piecemeal.

“This past April,” Wells explains, “the governing body approved $250,000 to design improvements — an extension — along Broadmoor Boulevard from Norwich Avenue to Paseo del Volcan including the intersection of Paseo del Volcan. This work is being funded from the Ending Fund Balance in the Higher Education Gross Receipts Tax Special Revenue Fund.

“Future work beyond this design work will be subject to available funding.”

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