City eyes $3.6M update for N. Guadalupe Street
Proposed makeover intended to make half-mile stretch more friendly to pedestrians, bicyclists and businesses
The city of Santa Fe is getting ready to rebuild North Guadalupe Street from Agua Fría Street north to Paseo de Peralta, a major reconstruction project likely to interrupt businesses, temporarily disrupt downtown traffic and generate a lot of community input.
The proposed makeover of the halfmile stretch of what is now a four-lane traffic corridor between two historic districts is still in the early stages. But the city project manager says a major goal is to make the street along the western edge of the downtown area more friendly to pedestrians, bicyclists and businesses, as well as safer.
“We’re going to be looking at different concepts to implement a complete street design for more pedestrian and multi-modal connectivity,” said David Quintana, an engineer with the city Public Works Department. “We’re probably going to be looking at some configuration of one lane in each direction and
a median to allow left turns. Ultimately, we’re going to reduce those [existing four] lanes to accommodate additional modes of transportation.”
Construction of the proposed $3.625 million project isn’t expected to begin until early 2019, but the Public Works Department hopes to kick off planning and design this summer.
Next month, two City Council committees will consider a request to spend nearly $375,000 in state and federal grant money to hire Wilson & Co. Inc. of Albuquerque for the planning and design of the proposed project. The full council will consider the request July 26, Quintana said.
The North Guadalupe Street corridor is one of the “areas of critical concern” for pedestrian safety identified in the city’s Pedestrian Master Plan. “It needs updating,” Quintana said of the street.
Quintana said the city already has been granted $3.6 million for the federal fiscal year 2019 for construction of the project.
“The total four-year budget for this project is $4 million,” he said.
In addition to designing a pedestrianand business-friendly street, Wilson & Co. will be responsible for gathering public input and conducting environmental and cultural studies.
“The primary purpose of this project is to design a complete street corridor (and associated improvements) that will accommodate existing and future travel demands,” city documents state. “The design will have a particular emphasis on safety, multi-modal options, and driveway access control.”
The basis for planning and design recommendations will be to ensure that Guadalupe provides “safe mobility” for all travelers, not just motorists.
The city wants to “provide a transportation system design that is considerate of the aging population, improving public health and fitness, reducing dependence upon foreign oil, minimizing transportation costs, creating and maintaining vibrant pedestrian and local business friendly corridor, and adopting greener and more sustainable lifestyles,” documents state.
Quintana said the project temporarily will impact business activity “like any construction project does.”
“The contractor who ultimately builds the project will be required to keep access to business at all times, and we’ll have pedestrian access during construction,” he said.
Quintana said there was strong business support for the project when the city initially applied for grant funding.
“I think the business community is behind it and ultimately, when the project is done, I know that they’ll be happier with the added pedestrian traffic that they’re going to be seeing and the bicycle traffic that they’re going to be seeing as a result of this project,” he said.
Quintana said he expects at least two public meetings during the planning stages.
Construction probably won’t start until March or April 2019, but the “main crux of construction” will probably only take six months, maybe even less, Quintana said. He said he expects the impacts on businesses will be less cumbersome than what businesses on Cerrillos Road saw during utility and storm drain projects.
“I don’t want to paint a rosy picture. There will be some impacts,” he said. “But I think they’ll be minimal, and obviously, we’ll keep businesses open and access to business open.”