Dead trees spoil the view along Tramway
DEAD TREES MAR TRAMWAY COMMUTE: A reader asks via email, “Can you find out what’s with the many dead and dying trees along Tramway NE? The trees are mostly between Indian School and Comanche and on the east side of Tramway. I realize this is a state road, but the landscaping, or lack there of, is a true eyesore. Even desert landscaping needs some attention.”
Emilee Cantrell, spokeswoman for the New Mexico Department of Transportation, say, “We are aware. Our environmental management crew is working on removing and thinning the dead trees.”
And Albuquerque Solid Waste Director John Soladay adds, “There have been several meetings with NMDOT and neighborhood associations over the last year or so to discuss options to refurbish the landscaping along this corridor.
“The next step is a meeting to review the design — Sites Southwest was contracted by Councilor Don Harris/Embudo Canyon Neighborhood Association — for the (northeast corner of the) Tramway and Indian School intersection.
“If the NMDOT approves of the design, the city of Albuquerque will have to draft a memorandum of understanding for the maintenance of the temporary irrigations system and routine maintenance of the newly landscaped area.”
WHY DO I STILL NEED AN EMISSIONS CHECK? That comes from Julia, who moved to Corrales from Bernalillo County four years ago. She emails that while MVD has had her new address for awhile, “I am now unable to renew online as I am receiving a notification that an emissions certificate is expired. Of course it has — we no longer live in Bernalillo County.”
She made a trip to the city-run MVD office in Rio Rancho and was told that “despite our address change, our receipt of notifications at our current address, and previous renewals at that same address, MVD records still show our vehicles registered at our previous address in Albuquerque” and she would have to pay a fee to get them changed.
Ben Cloutier, director of communications for MVD’s parent agency Taxation and Revenue Department, says, “When a driver moves, they can change their address with the MVD online at www.mvd.newmexico.gov.” In this case, “the municipally run MVD office misinformed the customer. Change of address is a simple request that can be performed, free of charge, by any MVD office.”
PROVISIONAL LICENSE REMINDER: After last week’s column on taking my son to get his learner’s permit, Doug Echols emailed an important reminder for six months down the road when it’s time for him to upgrade to a provisional license: “Don’t forget to make an appointment for his driver’s test and to bring all of the driver’s ed stuff again. My kid left heartbroken because we did not think to bring it a second time.”