Traffic Backup Tip-Off to Paseo Rollover

HOW THAT PASEO CLOSURE GOT ON THE BIG BOARDS: West Side Paseo del Norte commuters were greeted with a total closure of the eastbound lanes Wednesday morning, and those who drove up on the electronic message board between Golf Course and Eagle Ranch around 8:30 a.m. were given enough warning to merge right and bail out at Coors and take an alternate route.

So how, and when, did the information about a rollover wreck at Fourth Street get to drivers before they passed the Coors exit and got stuck?

Ray Herne of the New Mexico Department of Transportation’s Intelligent Transportation Systems Bureau has a play-by-play.

He says “we knew about the rollover on eastbound Paseo del Norte at Fourth Street because we saw the resulting traffic backup on our cameras (around 8:20 a.m.). Operators at our Traffic Management Center (TMC) first contacted Albuquerque police, and they told us that the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department was handling the situation. Bernalillo County deputies on scene advised our HELP truck crews and TMC staff that they were shutting down the roadway and diverting traffic.

“The TMC then put up motorist advisories on message boards at northbound Coors and Dellyne, southbound Coors at Irving and on eastbound Paseo at Richland Hills, stating that all eastbound lanes of Paseo were closed to traffic at the Coors interchange, and that a detour was in effect. Identical information was posted on the NMRoads website, and on our toll-free 511 road advisory hot line. The closure was lifted at 9:25 a.m.

“Only the center lane of eastbound Paseo was open when our HELP trucks arrived on scene. All other eastbound travel lanes of the roadway were affected by the rollover. … From a practical perspective, however, a full eastbound closure was probably the best way to ensure that medical personnel, and other public safety specialists, had immediate access to the site and to any potential victim.”

BOSQUE TRAIL SECTION CLOSING MONDAY: Work is scheduled to start Dec. 3 “rehabilitating approximately five miles of the Bosque Trail from Bridge Boulevard south to the South Diversion Channel,” according to Bernalillo County’s website.

It’s been some time coming. The site says this “trail segment was constructed by Bernalillo County Public Works in 1998 and is in need of significant upgrades.”

Crews “will eliminate pavement cracks and pavement heaving throughout the trail corridor by replacement of the pavement with a stronger pavement section throughout most of the project length. In addition to pavement replacement, the project includes some pavement overlay, added benches, some minor realignment of the trail to avoid erosion problems, improvement of gate access locations and monitoring stations.”

Those monitoring stations are important to future improvements and expansion – they show how much the trail is used and help justify its existence.

In addition, the site notes, “much of this trail is directly adjacent to wooded areas/irrigated farmland and there is a big gopher/beaver population, resulting in a very difficult maintenance situation. The improvements will smooth the trail and minimize the recurrence of bumps and cracks that have developed throughout the trail stretch.”

The $1 million project, funded 75 percent by the feds and 25 percent by the county, is scheduled to last three months and wrap up April 1.

Nolan Bennett, Bernalillo County’s construction and engineering manager for Public Works’ Technical Services Department, says cyclists and hikers should check out bernco.gov/bosquetrail for updated “status of the construction and detours.”

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 29 of the Albuquerque Journal