Medians belong to Cottonwood Mall

COTTONWOOD MALL MEDIANS A MESS: Sheila Johnson is “asking once again why some medians in Albuquerque are taken care of and some are all weeds and dead shrubbery.”

Her email says the “area around Cottonwood Mall — Ellison, 7 Bar Loop, Coors Boulevard, etc. — are horrible in the summer. Is this the responsibility of the city or the mall? That area is highly traveled, and it is a disgrace.”

Paul Hyso, marketing manager for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, says “we’ve researched ownership of the medians adjacent to Cottonwood Mall, and it is our understanding that the city of Albuquerque has no ownership of those medians. Our records show that city Legal and Planning Departments reviewed this along with the Parks & Recreation Department back in 2007, and the city had no role in development, and, therefore, has never maintained the medians.

“It is our understanding that it is the responsibility of Cottonwood Mall management to maintain those areas. We have, however, reached out to mall management to try and determine what can be done about median maintenance moving forward.”

COORS STREET LIGHTS OUT: Jonathan Stein emails that “numerous street lights have been inoperable for months on a stretch of Coors north of Western toward Learning Drive. This is a dangerous safety hazard at night since Coors is such a busy street. Thank you for looking into this matter.”

Thank you for alerting the city to the problem. Traffic Engineer John Kolessar says “these are owned by the city and maintained by Public Service Company of New Mexico. We have notified PNM.”

NEW UNSER/SOUTHERN STRIPING ON WAY: Byron Waxler emails that “a month or so ago a reader brought to your attention a problem at (the) Unser and Southern intersection, if (the) left-turn light turns green for north- and southbound traffic at same time — something that doesn’t normally happen. If cars (are) only turning from (the) ‘inside’ lane, it would be no problem. If cars (turn) in both lanes, it is a problem, as your reader pointed out.”

Byron says city officials “said there ‘should’ be no problem” but would have found one if they had “actually checked it out. Two Harley motorcycles going opposite directions could pass each other in (the) outside lane or in (the) middle of the intersection but not two cars/trucks.”

On Jan. 10, Peter Wells, communications officer for the city of Rio Rancho, explained that the Unser/ Southern intersection “can accommodate both turning movements” but that “re-striping the markings in the intersection that guide motorists through when turning is scheduled for the near future.”

That work is now on the to-do calendar.

Wells says “the re-striping work is now currently scheduled to take place in April. Because the work will need to be done at night due to the high volumes of traffic during the day, this time of year will provide the appropriate temperatures to install the striping.”

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 14 of the Albuquerque Journal