Not the place for a truck stop
The upcoming meeting Tuesday on sign variance requests (“Rancho Viejo residents heckle, walk out of meeting for the proposed Pilot Flying J truck stop,” June 21) at the Santa Fe gateway — the intersection of N.M. 14 and Rancho Viejo Boulevard, just off Interstate 25 — is a formality in a long process that should result in no permits for this project because:
It appears to conflict with the county’s Sustainable Development Plan without corresponding benefit. It will be a consumer of substantial precious water; concentrate hydrocarbon emissions near neighborhoods, degrading air quality; add to night-sky light pollution conflicting potentially with other regulations; create a traffic hazard with the redesigned and dangerous I-25 and Cerrillos Road interchange; and add noise to the quiet. The corresponding benefit of minimum wage jobs and taxes does not outweigh the detriment to the community and the corresponding lowering of taxable values in nearby properties and neighborhoods. It is a bad trade-off for the county.
The double-diamond exit and entrance will not support the suggested truck traffic. This is the case from either north or south entries. The traffic light scheme, which is problematic with current vehicular use, will be exacerbated with the suggested additional truck traffic. This will create traffic backups, and likely accidents as well, and frustrate emergency vehicle access. It will present dangerous conditions. No traffic engineer, only common sense, is needed to see what can happen when one drives Cerrillos Road from either direction and imagines what the additional suggested truck traffic will do to public road safety and emergency vehicle access.
From an aesthetic point of view, which has been an important point in the county’s plans to promote tourism and its positive impact on the county’s revenues, a truck stop is not the welcome sign tourists expect on the ride into Santa Fe from either direction. Consider the offset from any tax revenue gained from the negatives if Santa Fe County gets the national reputation as a truck stop on I-25 rather than a tourist, outdoor recreation and residential area.
While I oppose this site for a truck stop, I do not oppose them in general when in appropriate locations, and I do use Pilot Flying J. The problem is that the I-25 and Cerrillos Road location is the wrong one for Santa Fe County. For the benefit of the community, county and city leaders should oppose this site. Surely no one wants the City Different to be the city truck stop.