You’ve doubtlessly read Better Burque’s report yesterday concerning construction work on the new Valle de Oro/2nd Street project that has “road closed” signs up near 2nd Street. A bit of follow-up contact with the friendly folks at Bernalillo County has confirmed that there will be an official closure and detour in place from now until November 10th.

It will still be legally, and safely, possible for Chavez Loop users to make it to/from Rio Bravo near Broadway to Rio Bravo and the Bosque/Riverside Trail, but BB does want to impart one small warning concerning the detour route.

As you’ll note above, the idea is to take 2nd Street, more specifically the multi-use path on the east side of 2nd Street, from South Diversion to Prosperity Avenue. If you haven’t ridden this stretch before, keep in mind that the new multi-use path along 2nd is GREAT…until it’s not when you get to Prosperity.

Users will need to keep a keen eye as they turn east from 2nd onto Prosperity, both for the high number of left-turning south/eastbound drivers off of 2nd, AND for trains hurtling by along the very, very proximate tracks. Those dangers combined with a dicey path/sidewalk/street configuration at present make this turn a challenging proposition*.

On the other hand, this temporary closure/detour will lead not only to a re-opened Chavez Loop at 2nd, but a multi-use path bridge over South Diversion Channel, connecting the ongoing Valle de Oro path all the way from, eventually, Rio Bravo to the Wildlife Refuge.

Yes, that will mean you will be able to ride all the way from Alameda Blvd to Valle de Oro on multi-use path, roughly 20 miles.

One way.

Stay safe during the closure/detour and plan on visiting Valle de Oro early, often, and safely, once the project is complete.

*Note: Improvements are in the planning stages to make the 2nd/Prosperity intersection far safer for all users.