Most of the road improvement action is happening in other parts of town, so it’s reassuring and exciting to see work being planned down here in the South Valley. Coors Blvd., that bane of multi-modal travel down in my neck of the woods, is scheduled for improvement, at least at the corner of Blake/Coors:

This intersection is fascinating on a number of bike/ped fronts:

• Historically, the site was one of “industrial parks,” translating to assorted little businesses along Coors with ill-kept dirt parking lots.
• Like much of Coors down here, that’s significantly changing, with a large new Wendy’s at the corner, a big new El Herradero Meat Market nearby, as well as a panaderia and other businesses folks might want to bike/walk to.
• And, like much of Coors in the South Valley, there’s still currently zero sidewalk, except for a strip immediately adjacent to the Wendy’s. Even the pretty much brand new meat market has no sidewalk adjacent.
• One other factoid: There are five schools within a mile radius of the Coors/Blake intersection: South Valley Academy, Navajo Elementary, Robert F. Kennedy Charter, Barcelona Elementary, and Rudolfo Anaya Elementary.

In other words, the intersection of Coors and Blake is still engineered as if was South Valley 1984, and it ain’t 1984 anymore, Orwell notwithstanding. Much of the focus, understandably, of the Coors/Blake project will be on lessening the highly dangerous situation for motorists here, but overcoming the current nasty mix of greater bike/pedestrian school/business attractions with extremely *low bike/pedestrian safety and access will be hugely important.

Maybe I’ll see you, SV resident, tomorrow night at this public meeting on the project. Along with last week’s meeting on Rio Bravo & I-25, we in the South Valley seem to finally be catching up with all the projects, construction and improvements going on elsewhere in the area.

*The intersection was the scene of a fatal pedestrian hit & run just this past September.