NM Dept of Transportation Seeks Input on Ski Hill Road (NM 475) Repaving

 This just in. Sorry for the short notice. With a hat tip to the Seniors on Bikes

Ski Hill NMDOT seeking input on repaving

By bobb on Mar 02, 2022 09:32 am

This is an opportunity for cyclists to give their input to a cycling route that begs for improvement.

https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/6fad5b60253145b3ab4d106c89655b8b

Also on March 3, today when you read this, at 6pm an online public meeting hosted by the NMDOT to discuss a reconstruction project on NM 475 from Bishops Lodge to the SF Ski Basin. Meeting is intended to inform public of plans and to solicit input. This is great opportunity for NM cyclists to provide input on what they consider a safe riding environment. Meeting is free but participants must pre-register. Go to NMDOT website at www.dot.nm.gov and click on link for events/public meetings.

Hopefully Not The Last Night of the World

 With all the nuclear sabre rattling going on by Russia's Vladimir Putin, I'm getting these strange feelings I used to get during the depths of the Cold War. So to take my mind off this international disaster in progress, I took a bike ride. It had to be an easy one as I managed to strain my knee going down a steep trail in the dog park. Easy works better on one of the commuter bikes as they don't encourage me to go fast or ride hard.

A nice day, Sunday was, for an easy ride on my strained knee

On the way back, I stopped to take a couple pictures of the gigantic longitudinal gap in the sidewalk sections where you descend from St. Francis Drive at Cerrillos to the Acequia Trail underpass. I sent these pictures, below, to the city Report A Problem site. Beware of these catching a tire. I could drop a 25 x 1.5 inch tire into the gap.

Infrastructure is just one of the things the Santa Fe Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee works on. I'm one of the reps from District 1 but each of us tries to worry about all four districts. That means, ideally, we need people from all four Council districts on the committee. Please volunteer. Right now we are about to work on the Strategic Plan, have been writing an E-bike ordinance, among other things. But stuff doesn't do itself. 

NOTE: I got an email from the city that a work order has been initiated to fix this:

Thank you for submitting a work order to the City of Santa Fe. This email serves as a notice that your work order request has been received by the City of Santa Fe. We will send you an additional email once your work order has been resolved.  Assigned Work Order Number: 9359
Your Work Order Description: "At the sidewalk ramp that goes from the street level at St. Francis/Cerrillos intersection down to the bike-ped underpass, there is a deep longitudinal gap in the sidewalk that can cause a cyclist to crash. It looks like it was originally filled with some sort of seam filler but that has shrunken or just fallen out."
For interim status updates on work orders, please visit the Public Work Order Dashboard. 
For questions, comments, or concerns, please call Constituent Services at 505-955-6949.

Longitudinal Gap in sidewalk on ramp down to tunnel and trail

That's a 26 x 1.5 inch tire.

And hopefully, Russia and the U.S. can keep their bombs and rockets stored. We don't want this to be Armageddon, or as Bruce Cockburn once said, "The Last Night of the World"

When Riding the Rail Trail South of the Rabbit Road Trailhead, Start Watching for the Train

 

 In today's New Mexican:

Sky Railway excursion train to launch with holiday rides  

"Here’s what you can expect when the new Sky Railway trains begin running the tracks between Lamy and downtown Santa Fe...A group of local entrepreneurs who jointly purchased the old Santa Fe Southern Railway in 2020, with plans to revive its 18-mile excursions, have plotted a series of activities to engage passengers."

 Read the article for the whole story but meanwhile, start paying attention to those "Railroad Crossing" signs, as there might actually be a train coming!

Rail Trail Section Around South Capitol Station Completed

 If you missed Tim Roger's email, the S. Capitol section of the Rail Trail between Cordova and Alta Vista is complete. It was not my first choice as to where to spend bike facility money, but it does finish up a location that was a little confusing to newbies.

In addition, I ran into a lieutenant of a private security organization patrolling the Acequia Trail just southwest of the St. Francis underpass. Apparently in addition to the Plaza, the city has contracted private security to patrol the Rail Trail and Railyard including parts of the Acequia Trail at least as far as the underpass.

Looking south at Cordova Rd.

Looking north at Cordova Rd.

Looking north at Alta Vista

Looking south at Alta Vista. Looks like you are about to ride into a crummy little sidewalk but the trail jogs to your right after you cross the road and over the tracks and then continues south towards 2nd Street.

Closer look to the west at the jog across the tracks at Alta Vista. Complete with railroad crossing gates. The pavement needs work.

Support for cycling can keep the wheels turning, but you have to know where to point them

 

This was published in the 5/2/2021 Opinion section of the Santa Fe New Mexican.

 The New Mexican posted a pretty good article on the surge of bicycling during the pandemic in the hope that the surge would have staying power. That said, we must identify specific issues in Santa Fe needing improvement to keep those wheels turning. In anticipation of National Bike Month, here is my list.

Our trail system, while wonderful in some respects, often doesn't go where you need to go as a transportation resource. Much of retail Santa Fe is built up along major corridors such as Cerrillos Road and St. Francis Drive. But there is not dedicated bicycle accommodation along these corridors. This seriously impedes using a bicycle for local commerce.

Trails don't work by themselves. The Rail, Chamisa, River, and Acequia Trails depend on relatively safe streets knitting them together into a system in order to get from point A to point B. We also need better wayfinding so new riders or visitors can make these connections. As an example of how connections can work, I can ride the River Trail from the home in Casa Solana to Frenchy's Field and then ride Osage Ave to get to the Ace Hardware at St. Michaels and Cerrillos. But to bicycle to Rob and Charlie's bike shop or a number of stores on St. Michaels Drive, I  must negotiate a multilane urban "highway" designed to move cars as quickly and efficiently as possible; a bicyclist is an afterthought to both planners and motorists on these big, fast roads.

Which brings up a jurisdictional point. While the City has been improving conditions for cycling, the State's roadway jurisdictions (Cerrillos, St. Francis, and St. Michaels and a few other urban roads under state control) are often intimidating to a bicyclist. St. Francis Drive, rebuilt more than a decade ago with six lanes, eliminated any feasible way to include bicycle accommodation in its right of way, trading bike lanes for increased Motor Vehicle Level of Service. Meanwhile, slapping a pair of bike lanes on the rebuilt Cerrillos Road super-arterial doesn't make it bicycle-friendly. The high travel speeds ensure any crash will be gruesome and the massive number of traffic lanes ensure a bicyclist is almost sure to be overlooked by turning and crossing vehicular traffic.

But news! The City to take over four big stroads:  Santa Fe to assume responsibility for four stretches of road.

"...The agreement shifts maintenance responsibilities for more than seven miles of thoroughfares, including approximately four miles of Cerrillos Road from Beckner Road to St. Michael’s Drive; about 2½ miles of St. Michael’s Drive, from Cerrillos to St. Francis Drive and St. Francis to Old Pecos Trail; and 1.2 miles of Old Pecos Trail between St. Michael’s and Rodeo Road..."

What this points to is that the planning and design of infrastructure matters. Vision Zero principles tell us to assume operator error is inevitable. We must design our transportation infrastructure to minimize calamities when these errors happen. It makes little sense to design an entirely separate bicycle infrastructure, even if feasible, while leaving the lion's share of infrastructure inviting high consequence accidents to happen to everyone else. But redesigning infrastructure is expensive and time consuming. Meanwhile, we can lower the speed limits to a point where a crash is not gruesome. For example, Albuquerque has put in at least one "bicycle boulevard" with a speed limit of 30 kph (18 mph). But practically, you cannot control speeds with a few signs. You have to design a road so it looks like it should be driven at lower speeds; this can possibly be done in some locations using ingenuity rather than bushels of money.

Finally, if you allow urban sprawl to take root (such as Albuquerque's Santolina proposal or some development ideas closer to home), a bicycle, even an electronic-assisted bike, may become impractical. Infill is a good idea not only to ensure there is plenty of tax base per acre but to ensure that bicycling, mass transit, and walking are not untenable for someone on an actual schedule. Rather than building out, we should be building in and up. For example, zoning the Midtown Campus for residential housing at a density commensurate with the center of a city. Let's recall that the most desirable parts of the city are walkable, dense, and where it is often hard to find parking. Parts of the city that are dense but not walkable or bikeable may not be so desirable.

Its all complicated and politically fraught, but if you are trying to change the urban transportation paradigm to one of sustainability and less fossil fuel dependence, an integrated examination of urban designs, zoning plans, and multimodal equity all matter. 

Smart Cycling Videos from the League of American Bicyclists

 

URGENT: Cyclist severely injured in Los Alamos Hit and Run

 If you know anything, please contact the LAPD.

A** **** is in the LA Hospital. He sustained a fractured L2 vertebrae, bruised ribs, a deep wound on his elbow, and much road rash.

Brandon Hill and I were with A** **** today for a road ride. On Hwy 4, between mile markers 52 and 53, about 1/2 mile east of the Inter-Agency Fire Station, a pickup truck struck A** **** sending him and his bike flying through the air over 100' up the road, and knocking Brandon to the ground. The truck never hit its brakes and sped away.

It was a white pickup truck that appears to be part of some fleet, as it had writing on its tailgate and a yellow warning light on its cab. Many parts from the truck were scattered around the scene. The police have gathered all the pieces and will attempt to match numbers on some of the pieces to a VIN.

We spent a great deal of time with the LAPD. Other vehicles coming upon the scene reported seeing a damaged truck driving westbound at a very high speed and turning at the Back Gate towards town. The LANL VAP officers at Camp May Rd. were contacted and they did not see the truck come through the VAP, so it must have gone past the Ice Skating Rink. Police are checking the camera video at the intersection of Diamond Dr. and W Rd. (near the hospital) and other cameras in that area. They will issue a Press Release and are checking with many businesses that would have such a fleet vehicle.

If you hear anything, please report it to the LAPD, specifically Officer Everett Williams (everett.williams@lacnm.us; 505-662-8222). He wrote, "21-190" on his card. I assume this is the case number. 

The responding officers said this is the 3rd Hit & Run on Hwy 4. Please be vigilant and protect yourselves.

 

Update: Suspect arrested.