SHARING THE ROAD
Proposal would require consideration of pedestrians, bikes and cars
In much of Albuquerque, nothing but a curb separates pedestrians from the cars whizzing by. “It’s not a place you’re going to choose to walk unless you’re desperate,” City Councilor Isaac Benton says.
He’s aiming to change that with new legislation establishing a “Complete Streets Ordinance.”
It would direct city planners and engineers to consider pedestrians, bicyclists and others when re-striping or rebuilding streets in older parts of the city, or when building entirely new ones. They’d have to give equal weight to people on foot, pedaling a bike or driving a car — rather than just restriping or rebuilding the street as it was before.
The proposal has generated little opposition at this point, though Mayor Richard Berry’s administration has said it doesn’t want the city’s already-tight maintenance budget paying for it.
Benton, for his part, said he doesn’t envision the ordinance costing much, other than the time and money it takes to have city staff or an on-call engineer review a project to see whether the existing layout ought to change.
Wide sidewalks, street trees, onstreet parking, bicycle lanes and protected mid-block crossings for pedestrians would be encouraged. In some cases, the city could eliminate some lanes of traffic or make them more narrow, if traffic engineers determine the street is built to handle more cars than it actually does.
And not every feature has to be incorporated along every street, Benton said. He said he expects little change along the big seven-lane boulevards that dominate the older Northeast Heights, such as Lomas, Menaul and Eubank.
On the other hand, the principles of “complete streets” have already been put into practice along Martin Luther King Jr. between Interstate 25 and University; Central Avenue, just west of Downtown; and the rebuilt stretches of Lead and Coal in the university area.
“This has great promise if we do it right,” Benton said. “... We’ve got to use alternative modes of travel to minimize congestion and make streets do more for the dollars we spend on them.”
The ordinance already has support from BikeABQ, a nonprofit advocacy group, and the board of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. A representative for the local chapter of NAIOP, the commercial realestate development association, said earlier this month that the group’s “initial response is positive,” though the ordinance is still under review.
In a written statement, Michael Riordan, Albuquerque’s chief operations officer, said he agrees with the ordinance generally, but “with the understanding that it is not intended to change every roadway, nor should our limited maintenance dollars be included in the funding of this ordinance.”
Benton freely acknowledges that the city doesn’t have enough money to make every street look like the Lead and Coal project, which received federal funding and added landscaping, bicycle lanes and new sidewalks while reducing motor-vehicle lanes.
Instead, the city would have to “take a little closer look at how we do it” when rehabilitation projects are planned, he said.
“The idea that this would somehow eat up our maintenance budget is pretty far off the mark,” Benton said. “It would certainly require a little more time upfront to make sure we spend the money carefully.”
The proposal is expected to have its second hearing before the council’s land-use committee next month. After that, it may move to the full City Council.
“We have no intention of rushing this,” Benton said.