City needs to act: Bishops Lodge Road traffic is too loud and fast

For the past two years, I have witnessed vehicles traveling at excessive speeds and driving recklessly on Bishops Lodge Road south of Camino Encantado. Countless times I have watched vehicles go through the speed indicator on the west side of Bishops Lodge north of Murales at 55 to 60 mph (the speed limit there is 30 mph), and many times vehicles have crossed the double yellow line at speeds in excess of 60 mph to pass me.

Bishops Lodge Road has no sidewalk or dedicated walk or bicycle path and in many places the shoulders are narrow or filled with ruts. This makes it extremely dangerous to walk or bike along the road.

I understand that in its distant past, Bishops Lodge might have been a country highway, but it is no longer.

Since last fall, I have met with the mayor and exchanged numerous emails with him, his staff and some City Council members about these issues. I’ve also asked why all roads leading into the Plaza from the east, south and west have lower speed limits, sidewalks, medians, traffic control devices and other traffic calming features and Bishops Lodge does not. I understand that in its distant past, Bishops Lodge might have been a country highway, but it is no longer. The road south of Camino Encantado abuts nothing but residential neighborhoods.

I have suggested to the city that they do three things to improve the safety of Bishops Lodge. First and foremost, reduce the speed limits south of Camino Encantado, increase the signage (with large signs that will get people’s attention; not hidden behind shrubs or tree limbs) to alert drivers of these speed limits and asking drivers to slow down, and have constant and effective traffic enforcement. Second, install traffic-calming devices along Bishops Lodge Road such as stop signs and/or roundabouts. Third, install sidewalks or other dedicated pathways for pedestrians and bicycles, and either put in medians and/or narrow the road to make it look more residential. These are standard traffic calming measures and would make Bishops Lodge look and feel like Alameda and Old Santa Fe Trail for the mile or so before they intersect with Paseo de Peralta.

I realize that the third item may be expensive and time-consuming, but making our streets safer is a good use of our city resources. I don’t see why the city can’t adopt a plan now to accomplish this in the next couple of years. The first item is simple, not expensive and can be instituted immediately. If it doesn’t work, then the city would need to implement the second item.

Reducing speeds on Bishops Lodge Road also will materially decrease noise pollution. According to the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse, reducing the speed of vehicles on a road from 40 mph to 30 mph reduces the noise by as much as if there were 50 percent less traffic.

Engineering studies further have shown that a car traveling at 50 mph generates 10 times the noise of a car traveling 30 mph. The noise generated by Bishop Lodge Road is only going to get worse as there is more and more development north of the city.

I agree that my solutions might not be the only ones that will work. I have suggested the city create a task force of city staff members and citizens impacted by Bishops Lodge Road to deal with these issues and put forth their own recommended solutions.

Given my repeated requests and ongoing efforts, I can only assume the city either doesn’t see a problem (does the city not care

about the north side of town?) or sees it and has no interest in addressing it. I did notice that as soon as people started complaining to the mayor about loud mu±ers, he was quoted in the paper as saying the city intended to address that issue quickly. So I call again for the mayor and City Council to agree that this stretch of Bishops Lodge Road is a problem and to take action now toward making it safer, quieter and more user friendly.