WHAT’S UP WITH THAT CONSTRUCTION? Michael A. Blackledge asks “does the city of Albuquerque provide some information on construction sites within the city or street maintenance projects? Information as to location, expected construction time, expected completion date, problems?”
Michael says this email question was prompted first by “the never-ending construction project to bring in a new Burger King” first announced in October 2021 to replace the demolished AA Buffet Grill & Sushi at the corner of Juan Tabo and Lomas boulevards.
And, second, by the “weeks, now months, of the maintenance causing one-lane traffic (for the) never-used pedestrian walkways over Tramway.”
LOOK UP A BUILDING: Regarding business construction, Tim Walsh of Albuquerque’s Planning Department says it “does have two publicly available tools to look up construction information. The first is our POSSE portal where the public can look up building permits, complaints and business registrations. That website is posse.cabq.gov/posse/pub/lms/Default.aspx?PosseMenuName=PC_Search. The second is our Advanced Map Viewer, which provides similar construction information but in a map interface. The Advanced Map Viewer can be found at cabq.gov/gis/advanced-map-viewer.
LOOK UP A ROAD: As for roads, in the city Scott Cilke of Albuquerque’s Department of Municipal Development says the city does post a traffic report at cabq.gov (search for “traffic report”) that includes “an interactive map as well as list of projects that is updated roughly every couple of weeks. This essentially shows all barricade permits currently issued by the city.”
State roads like Tramway fall under New Mexico Department of Transportation purview; NMDOT has road conditions, construction and more posted at nmroads.com/mapIndex.html? Kimberly Gallegos with the DOT’s District 3 office, which covers the greater Albuquerque metro area, says “the Tramway pedestrian bridge project is moving along nicely, and crews have continued work on the Rover bridge. As for the lane closure question, there have been daytime lane closures from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. so that crews can mobilize and use equipment safely to reach the top of the bridge. These closures are taken down daily by 3 p.m., and to my knowledge, there was only a period between Thanksgiving and Christmas of a one lane closure for two weeks to replace some guardrail along Tramway.
“We appreciate the patience of the traveling public during this project.”
WILL SIMMS PARK ROAD BE WIDENED? That question comes from Christine Mermier, specifically the section “from Tramway Boulevard to the Elena Gallegos Open Space. That road is used by bicyclists and folks living in the neighborhoods as well as vehicles going to recreate at Elena Gallegos. This is a very narrow, bumpy road with no shoulder, and cars often speed both up and down the road. Is there any plan to re-pave and widen this road?”
Nope. But it has been mowed and cleaned up.
OVERGROWTH’S NOW GONE: The city of Albuquerque jumped on the Simms Park shoulders after Steve Hoberg emailed in September that “for years brush has overgrown the side of the road to the point it is now being ‘trimmed’ by vehicles. In some cases the brush is 18 inches over the side of the road. There are many places where there is not room for a bike and a car going each way to co-exist; someone is going to get seriously hurt. I have called 311 a number of times as well as contacted the city Open Space (Division), but nothing ever gets done.”
Cilke says “we cut back/mowed all the bushes so that should be resolved. I do not believe there are any plans to widen the road at this time.”
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, NM, 87109.
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