Confrontation Was Avoidable

ATTENDANCE AT the public meeting on July 26 to discuss the proposed traffic circle at Rio Grande and Candelaria was large, and largely hostile. Michael Reardon, Albuquerque director of municipal development, is quoted in the Saturday Journal as having said “The city told the Federal Highway Administration that there was no strong opposition to the project, based on a series of meetings held about four years ago.”

Councilor Debbie O’Malley, who requested the work, also has indicated she had heard little opposition.

Here’s the problem: the meetings held four years ago apparently did not include anyone but the immediate neighbors, although the effects would clearly be much wider. Unlike installation of a speed hump in a no-throughtraffic residential street, the proposed changes would affect traffic on a major north-south route, formerly NM State Highway 194, with few easy alternatives. Wider notification of the early meetings should have been made. By the time most of the affected citizens heard about it, the project was being presented as a “done deal” and the July 26 meeting as a mere technical formality.

The contrast to zoning rules is striking. For example, if I want permission to create a second kitchen in my home, immediate neighbors will be notified. In addition, a very prominent sign with details and zoning contact information must be posted to inform all passersby, although the comments of non-neighbors might not count for much unless they can demonstrate a direct impact. The same principle should apply to street changes.

I understand that the large attendance at the July 26 meeting resulted, in part, from the placing of a portable sign at the intersection. Had something similar been done four years ago, Councilor O’Malley and the city would not have been blind-sided by the opposition. There would have been a chance for discussion and even compromise rather than lastminute confrontation. RANDALL COLE Albuquerque