Streets getting $11.5M spruce-up
In addition to roadwork, mayor deploys city crews for early start on parks, medians maintenance
An $11.5 million roadway improvement project launched Thursday as city crews went to work on a section of Rodeo Road, the first of a dozen stretches of streets to be repaved this year.
A city bond issue earlier this year funded the roadwork, which city workers have said is generally years overdue. Improvements will take place over three years.
Also to follow this spring are parts of Paseo de Peralta and Upper Canyon Road, where new Mayor Alan Webber lives. The bond issue and the pecking order of streets to be repaired were initiated under the previous administration.
During the summer and into the fall, Agua Fría Street, Avenida de las Campanas, Calle Lorca, Galisteo Street, Johnson Street, Old Pecos Trail and Siler Road will see crews working on new pavement.
The bond issue, introduced last year by former Mayor Javier Gonzales, will compress into the three-year window street improvement work that otherwise would have taken a decade for the city to fund.
To follow in 2019 and 2020 are segments of more roads that include
Camino Entrada, Galisteo Street, Rufina Street and Zia Road.
The kickoff of the roadway improvements coincides with an early start for city crews tasked with maintaining parks and medians.
Webber this week announced this program on his mayoral Facebook page, posting a photo of a meeting between himself, City Manager Brian Snyder, Parks Division Director Richard Thompson, and Parks and Recreation Department Director Rob Carter.
Last year, the city was “behind the ball,” Webber wrote, referencing a belated start in marshaling workers. This allowed weeds to grow and compelled the city to bring in private contractors and prison crews to try to keep medians clear amid heavy summer rains.
“Crews are already out working on medians and parks — starting earlier in the year than ever before, since the winter was so mild,” Webber wrote.
He added that the city had hired 27 of 29 crew members: “We’re starting on the south side, to make sure local Santa Feans know we care about every part of our city.”
And on the beautification front, the city will work “collaboratively” to form partnerships with the Municipal Court; the Adopt-a-Median program of the nonprofit Keep Santa Fe Beautiful; and Better Way for Santa Fe, the anti-soda tax political committee, according to the mayor’s Facebook post.
“We never want anyone in our community to say, ‘Santa Fe’s just not as beautiful as it used to be,’ ” Webber wrote.
Contact Tripp Stelnicki at 505-428-7626 or tstelnicki@sfnewmexican.com.