Road Warrior: ABQ recognized as one of the top bicycle-friendly cities

Happy Monday.

Temperatures are expected to be in the 60s, 70s and 80s in many parts of the state this week. That means it is time to take out the motorcycles and bicycles and go for a ride.

Speaking of bicycles, the city of Albuquerque was recently recognized as one of the top bicycling communities in the nation.

Bicycle Friendly America named the Duke City a Silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community for the second time (2020).

Every four years, The League of American Bicyclists surveys cities and ranks them based on the 5 E’s of bicycling: engineering, education, encouragement, evaluation and planning, and equity and accessibility.

The city was recognized for its adoption of its Vision Zero Action Plan, providing services like the Esperanza Bicycle Safety Education Center and Bike Thru Burque events, and following its Complete Streets roads plan, said Dan Mayfield, Department of Municipal Development spokesperson.

There are five levels of the BFC award: diamond, platinum, gold, silver and bronze, plus an honorable mention category.

“The cities, regions and towns recognized in this round of Bicycle Friendly Community awards are leading the way by investing in infrastructure and programs that make biking an easier, safer, and more accessible choice,” said Bill Nesper, The League of American Bicyclists executive director, in a statement.

Communities that receive a Bicycle Friendly Community award designation need to reapply every four years to keep their award status, according to the BFC website.

“We have been working hard to maintain our silver-level accreditation and we’re aiming for gold in 2028, when we next apply,” said Valerie Hermanson, senior transportation planner, in a statement.

‘PLEASE HELP’: Potholes on Interstate 40’s two right eastbound lanes between Pennsylvania and Eubank “are downright dangerous,” Riley Nelson said in an email.

“There are dozens of large areas of missing concrete,” he said. “Several years ago, I sent this information to the Journal after my car prematurely needed shocks and struts replaced due to pothole damage. As a result, NMDOT partially filled many of the potholes, but this ‘fix’ has been woefully inadequate and the potholes remain as bad as ever.

“This is a terrible stretch of road. Please help!”

YELLOW LIGHT: At traffic signal intersections, “is the duration of a yellow light consistent and uniform (example: always six seconds, everywhere and at any time?), or might the duration vary (within and between jurisdictions)?” Joel Nossoff asked.

“While we strive to be uniform in our approach to (the) timing of our traffic signals, each intersection is unique and requires (the) study of the dynamics of the intersection and how to maximize the efficiency of each location,” said Melissa Smith, Bernalillo County spokesperson. “There are recommendations on how many seconds a yellow phase is. However, as mentioned previously, each location is unique, and careful consideration must be done when assigning the timing of each phase of the intersection.

“These considerations include speed of the corridor, length of the intersection, and driver behavior. Therefore, not all yellow phase time(s) is uniform.”