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ANOTHER DANGER FROM ILLEGAL ROAD SALES: Last month readers sounded off on the dangerous distraction of roadside sales along Tramway, and the state Department of Transportation explained the practice is not allowed and can result in a misdemeanor citation.
John Seaver of Just Sprinklers emails that the practice is dangerous not just to drivers and vendors, but to businesses that go to the trouble to operate above board.
“The reason I am against this idea of selling your products on the road is that they can sell cheaper than my business because they don’t pay sales taxes and they don’t pay rent. It is a loss of business for me because of this,” he says.
John explains that, unlike folks vending on the shoulder, “I have to have a New Mexico state agricultural license to sell plants.” And he has to follow the state rules on selling firewood.
“Often times when people are comparing prices … they say the roadside guy is cheaper. It is because they don’t sell you a ‘cord’ of wood; they are selling you whatever they decide is a cord of wood. After they dump it in your yard and you stack it that afternoon, then you discover that you didn’t get a cord of wood but you got a ‘New Mexico cord’ of wood. That is a joke, by the way. There is no such thing as a New Mexico cord of wood.”
John says what is really needed is uniform enforcement in the Metro area — “I can tell you there are zero roadside vendors in Rio Rancho. I think the reason is that the law enforcement doesn’t tolerate it. … Why Tramway and Route 66 and Corrales are treated differently is odd to me.”
SKATEBOARDERS STILL PLAGUE GLENWOOD HILLS: Kristi Humphries emails a worry that has been voiced in this column before. “I live in Glenwood Hills and am concerned about the significant number of skateboarders who use our curvy, steep streets,” she says. “I initially thought these were neighborhood kids, but after seeing someone unloading his skateboard from his parked car have decided that the neighborhood has become a destination. Is this illegal? It’s certainly dangerous. I nearly hit a skateboarder zooming around the steep curve past my house. Will the police respond to a call about this matter?”
It is and they will.
Last year the question came up a few times regarding this neighborhood and others. The Albuquerque Police Department said skateboarders were breaking the law because they are considered pedestrians and have to travel up against the curb/on the shoulder of the road.
City ordinance 8-2-7-7, “Walking Along the Roadway,” says “(A) Where sidewalks are provided, it shall be unlawful for a pedestrian to walk along or upon an adjacent roadway.
“(B) Where sidewalks are not provided, a pedestrian walking along or upon a roadway shall, when practicable, walk only on the left side of the roadway or its shoulder facing oncoming traffic.”
Officer Tasia Martinez, APD’s public information officer, says “If there are specific immediate concerns about dangerous/illegal skateboarding or pedestrian activity please call 242-COPS and have a local area command officer respond to evaluate the situation and address any safety concerns at hand.”
WHAT ARE THOSE LOG BOXES AT TRAIL ENTRANCES? This month I accessed the multi-use bosque trail at Montaño and had to lift my bicycle over one of these large structures, which block the entrance.
Albuquerque city Parks and Recreation Director Barbara Baca says the log boxes are called horse walk overs and are designed to block motorized vehicles from entering the area while allowing the large animals to step over.
She says they are often used in place of bollards, the more familiar removable posts placed in the center of a trail opening, because too often vandals have taken the post, leaving the collar/base that sticks up a few inches and which presents a hazard all its own.
Baca says it’s a challenge to determine how to allow trail access to accommodate a variety of users while protecting the area and being “a friend to all creatures” that may want to use the trails.
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 A4 of the Albuquerque Journal
