ROUNDABOUT WORK STARTS NOV. 21: For a while, drivers have been stumped about what’s going on at Ventura and Holly NE.
Earlier this year Marty McGowan shared that “the intersection of Ventura and Holly is congested and dangerous. I have noticed that there is (a) large construction site where dirt is being moved to the north of Trader Joe’s. Will Ventura be widened from Holly to the north?” And sallymack emailed “there are traffic control blockers at the west exit on Ventura from the Albertsons grocery store. If I’m coming home from the south or from the west I have to maneuver around the right lane blockage in order to turn right onto Holly. … I don’t know what the future traffic plans are for both PDN and Ventura as well as Holly and Ventura but I would like to see two lanes of traffic in both directions.”
So far, drivers are getting a roundabout rather than widening.
Scott Cilke with the Albuquerque Department of Municipal Development says “as part of the construction of the new apartment complex, there will be a roundabout built at that intersection. That is a project that will be completed by the apartment complex’s private contractors and is not officially a city project.”
Some history: In January 2021, a traffic study was presented to the city of Albuquerque and the state Department of Transportation on the impact of an apartment complex project on the northwest corner of Holly and Ventura NE. It found the apartments would have minimal impact on traffic, adding “less than a few seconds” to delays.
But it also found the intersection of westbound Holly and Ventura, coming out of the Albertsons, rated a “C” in the morning peak drive-time and a “D” in the afternoon rush hour. Those ratings, based on level of service (LOS), or delays, did not change with or without the development.
As part of the study the city asked what converting the intersection to a roundabout would do, and the report says it brought the ratings up to an “A,” whether it included a single-lane or double-lane approach.
So next Monday crews will begin Phase One of construction, closing the east lanes of Ventura between Paseo and Holly and funneling traffic into a single northbound and southbound lane on the west side of the road. Phase Two will reverse that, closing the west lanes and moving traffic to the east.
Drivers should watch for the hollyventuraconstruction.com site to go live today with more information on the $900,000 project, which is scheduled to last five to seven months.
CITY CAN SEE IF SPEED HUMPS WARRANTED: Meanwhile, Mike Osborn emails “there have been far too many collisions at Carlisle and Garfield SE in the last few years. … The most recent of these almost resulted in the death of a bicyclist. If the rider hadn’t been very agile – and lucky – we might have had a ghost bike in front of our house. As it was, three cars were totaled and at least four folks were taken to the hospital. This situation has only gotten worse since Garfield SE was resurfaced this summer. A much smoother road has resulted in even more excessive speed. The stop signs on Garfield at Carlisle are routinely run by folks, especially those traveling eastbound. And it certainly doesn’t help that the stop sign on Garfield just west of Carlisle is partially obscured by tree branches.
“… A possible solution discussed and supported by many neighbors would be to have a series of speed humps along Garfield, again especially west of Carlisle. Maybe an analysis of traffic numbers/patterns/accident reports, etc. is in order? I/we sure hope so.”
Cilke says “the city offers the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program to people who would like to request traffic calming or changes in their neighborhood. I’d recommend this person file a traffic calming request through the NTMP program, cabq.gov/neighborhood-traffic-management-program.
The website lays out these criteria: While the primary applicant does not have to be a resident on the requesting street segment, supporting applicants must be residents on it. The street segment must be in the city limits and cannot be less than 800 feet long. It must have at least 40% of the homes fronting the street segment. Dead-ends or cul-de-sacs … are not eligible. Also ineligible are streets that already have traffic calming measures or that have been studied in the last five years.
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.
