Santa Fe must maintain bike and pedestrian infrastructure
Bike Santa Fe urges the mayor and City Council to pass the resolution for maintenance of bicycle and pedestrian facilities. Ensuring sidewalks, trails, paths and bike lanes are well-maintained is important for much more than recreation. It’s important for members of our community with disabilities to get around town, for people to commute to work and run errands, and for Santa Fe’s progress on reaching its sustainability goals.
Well-reported stories in The New Mexican
(“Keeping up the fight to be included,” Feb. 25; “Promoting pathways,” Feb. 26) highlighted the challenges faced by our community members with disabilities as they work for recognition and inclusion.
Passage of this resolution would show the city is prioritizing necessary compliance with Americans With Disabilities Act accessibility guidelines. Improving sidewalks for those in wheelchairs and who are vision-impaired is absolutely necessary, as is improving crosswalks and traffic signals. These improvements would also help all pedestrians.
In the city’s recent report on its progress toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it noted city employees walking and biking to work contributed to the reduction. With improved bicycle and pedestrian facilities, more city employees will be able to commute to work safely by foot and on two wheels.
When it comes to getting around town on two wheels, we know how much room there is for improvement. We often hear from our members about the terrible condition of trails, bike lanes and sidewalks. From months of icy conditions to weeds and unswept debris making bike lanes unpassable and forcing cyclists to ride among large, speeding cars, Santa Fe can be a dangerous place to ride a bike.
In the news release announcing Santa Fe’s renewal as a Silver-level Bicycle Friendly City, Mayor Alan Webber said: “Our renewal as a Silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community is good news — but not good enough. We have a long-standing commitment to a complete streets approach to mobility and transportation. Bicyclists, pedestrians, and all kinds of mobility are important for us to reach our sustainability and livability goals. We’re on the right path, but there’s more to be done.” We agree.
In 2022, the city adopted an updated Complete Streets Resolution which defines complete streets as “a comprehensive, integrated transportation network with infrastructure and design that supports safe and well managed travel along and across streets for all users, including pedestrians, users and of public transit, bicyclists, persons with disabilities, seniors, children, motorists, visitors, shared mobility services and movers of commercial goods.”
This resolution would help make progress toward this vision.
While passage of this resolution would mean the governing body is showing leadership in prioritizing bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, it would allow the mayor to also show leadership in determining the appropriate budget allocation and city departments to develop and refine a work plan to achieve the goals set forth.
We commend the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee for developing this resolution after seeing unsafe conditions persist on bike lanes, trails, and sidewalks in Santa Fe for years. We again urge the governing body to pass it.