Citizens have their say on proposed Alameda Boulevard reconstruction
‘Instead of having four lanes of stopped traffic, we’ll just have six,’ resident says
Half a century ago, when pastures and alfalfa fields dominated the North Valley, there was no Alameda Boulevard, and Corrales Road deadended at Fourth Street.
Gail Skinner remembers it well, having grown up there, and wishes it had never changed.
“It was so rural,” she said. “To see that broken up and turned into housing addition — that cut me real quick.”
Skinner was one of many area residents who showed up Wednesday night to an open house for proposed reconstruction of Alameda Boulevard, from the Interstate 25 frontage road west to Edith, which is likely to include landscaping, bicycle lanes and a wider roadway with an expansion from four to six lanes.
The open house, held at Ballon Fiesta Museum and sponsored by the city of Albuquerque in cooperation with the New Mexico Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, gave engineers and planners the opportunity to hear concerns and input from the public.
Citizens expressed concerns particularly on the lane expansion, as it threatens to further change the face of their “community” atmosphere.
Skinner, who watched Alameda transition from “our little two-lane Corrales Road” to the now four-lane road, said enough is enough.
“There are times of the day, when we are prisoners in our houses,” she said, of the current traffic congestion. “Basically, we just stay home.”
The proposed expansion won’t fix the traffic issues either, Skinner said, considering that Alameda will bottleneck again at the river and make no difference.
“Instead of having four lanes of stopped traffic, we’ll just have six lanes of stopped traffic,” she said. The traffic problem stems, not from locals, but those “West Siders” who work in the east but live on the west.
“Sometimes it’s like ants scrambling all over a hill just looking for a way,” she said. Skinner sympathizes with the commuters, however, realizing that there are not enough jobs on the West Side. She just wishes there was another solution.
“Some of us just sit out here, with our horses and our chickens, and just wish that it was 50 years ago,” she said.
Tim Weaks and his wife Cindy came to the open house with optimism and hopes of having their voices heard.
Weaks is president of Dwight’s Glass & Mirror, a business along the reconstruction route, and said whether the project helps or hurts business depends on many factors, such as flow of traffic and parking lot access.
Cindy Weaks said their customers’ access is the biggest concern, as the current layout possibly blocks parking lot access through restricting left turn lanes.
“So we’ll see what they do,” Cindy Weaks said. “They can make some adjustments on that — hopefully it will be all right.”
Tim Weaks said the expansion will definitely help during Balloon Fiesta but believes Alameda will still turn into a “parking lot” if any accident or delay happens on Paseo del Norte or Montaño.
“It’s progress,” Weaks said. “As long as they take our input and let us have a say.”
Officials have said the final design could take another two years to complete and construction may not begin until sometime in 2021.