Friday, July 25, 2008

Crossing River Complicated

By Lloyd Jojola
Journal Staff Writer
      The flurry of ongoing state road maintenance work that affects West Side drivers has one job close to ending, another getting set to start, and yet another looming.
    Here's the breakdown:
    â– The Alameda Boulevard "micro surfacing" paving operation that's been going on for some time between the river to past the railroad tracks should wrap up next Friday, said Phil Gallegos, the state Department of Transportation's district spokesman.
    Crews recently switched the work to a daytime job.
    "They weren't having real good results with their product during the night," Gallegos said.
    The 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekday work has resulted in various lane closures in both directions.
    â– Starting next week, a repaving project will start on Paseo del Norte between Jefferson and Second Street. The heater scarification job — where the existing pavement is heated and repaved — will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays resulting in various lane closures in both directions, Gallegos said.
    "That's going to be for two weeks," he said. "It's going to overlap with (the Alameda project) during the daytime for a week. So that's going to cause a conflict for people who are using the two river crossings."
    â– In early August, crews will begin a mill and inlay road rehabilitation project on Coors both ways between Paseo del Norte and the Coors Bypass.
    The mill work is scheduled to take place at night but stop for the morning rush hour. Paving will take place in the daytime, work again stopping for the afternoon rush hour, Gallegos said.
    The work will take about a month or longer because of the restricted working hours.
    â– In other road-related news, the Alameda North Valley Association has called on local government agencies to look at limiting truck traffic on Alameda during the rush hours.
    "Since Alameda Boulevard is the only available truck route across the river between Central Avenue and Bernalillo, we are seeing an increase in heavy truck traffic as the City of Rio Rancho expands, it is beginning to cause problems in our community," association board member Mike Silbert said in a news release.
    The group expressed concern about damage that it said heavy truck traffic is causing to historic structures, such as the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Church, and about potential air quality issues.
    In the area, the state DOT oversees Alameda between Interstate 25 to about the Coors Bypass, said Gallegos, who was not aware of the news release.
    "I'm sure we'll take a look at it," he said.
    "The problem we have is, where are the trucks going to go?" Gallegos said. "Paseo is already restricted (for large trucks). Montaño and Alameda, the interstate and (U.S.) 550 are the only other crossings."
   

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