WHERE’S THAT NEW ROUNDABOUT? John emails, “I’m wondering what happened to the roundabout that’s supposed to be put in at 12th and Menaul. The water construction is wrapped up, but the roundabout construction looks like it isn’t going to happen as the intersection is back open. We’ve been waiting years for it, and now it looks like it won’t be happening?”
Oh, it is.
Patti Watson, who is handling information on both projects for CWA Strategic Communications, explains the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority’s “waterline relocation wrapped up Friday, a week earlier than predicted. Both 12th and Menaul and 12th and Matthew are open. The city of Albuquerque roadway improvements project at Menaul Boulevard and 12th Street NW, which includes a roundabout, will go out to bid in March. Construction is scheduled to start this summer.”
And the specifics of the project are coming soon. Watson adds, “We will be holding a public meeting prior to the start of construction in May 2020 to provide details on construction plans, phasing and anticipated traffic impacts. We anticipate the project will take about eight months to complete once construction begins. Anyone interested in receiving more information can sign up for an invitation to the public meeting and construction updates by calling (505) 245-3134 or emailing pattiw@cwastrategic.com.”
SIDE YARDS DON’T COUNT ON PARKING BAN: Barry Schwartz emails that he lives in the 87112 ZIP code and has “been sending in many photos of cars parked on front lawns (to the city code enforcement folks). No actions have been taken, and it appears the city is still applying exceptions to these situations and not enforcing the parking code in older neighborhoods like ours.”
But they are. The ban is on parking in front yards.
Maia Rodriguez, who handles information for the Planning Department, says Code Enforcement did receive complaints about the property and checked each one out. “Our code inspectors must witness the violations in order to issue notice of violation,” she explains.
And there was none.
“Vehicles were witnessed on the side yard of the property. The photos provided by Mr. Schwartz show vehicles parked on the street side yard. The front-yard parking regulations do not apply to the side yard of a residential development. Therefore, the subject property is not in violation.”
Barry isn’t buying it and plans to work with his city councilor, Diane Gibson.
“I do not agree in this interpretation,” he says. “It’s a corner house and thus the street side lawn, that faces the street, needs to be included in their code interpretation. Plus they have to drive across the sidewalk and curb to get the first of two cars off the lawn. This creates an additional safety problem. The code needs to be applied to the street side of corner houses.”
WEIGH IN ON WILDLIFE CORRIDORS: The state departments of Transportations and Game and Fish are hosting eight public meetings across the state to give information and get feedback on developing wildlife corridors to address “wildlife-vehicle collision hot spots.”
The meetings are scheduled to run 90 minutes and all start at 6:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, Raton NMDGF Office, 215 York Canyon Road;
• Thursday, Albuquerque NMDGF Office, 7816 Alamo NW;
• March 3, Santa Fe Higher Education Center, 1950 Siringo Road;
• March 5, Farmington, McGee Park, 41 County Road 5568, Multi-Purpose Building south of Sun Ray Park and Casino;
• March 10, Las Cruces NMDGF Office, 2715 Northside Drive;
• March 11, Santa Clara/Silver City, Santa Clara Community Center, 11990 Highway 180 E.;
• March 12, Roswell NMDGF Office, 1615 West College Blvd.;
• March 18 Taos, Sagebrush Inn, 1508 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur.
Comments can also be sent until April 18 to: Wildlife Corridors Action Plan, 6020 Academy Road NE, Suite 100, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87109, or via email to Wildlife.Corridors@state.nm.us.
Editorial page editor D’Val Westphal tackles commuter issues for the Metro area on Mondays. Reach her at 823-3858; dwestphal@abqjournal.com; or 7777 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque, N.M., 87109.
