Had my first chance to ride the new underpass “notch” along the North Diversion Channel Trail (NDC) at Indian School NE this afternoon. Years in the making (many) and opened a few weeks ago, the notch completes a series of underpasses making it possible for walkers/riders/rollers to go miles and miles from El Pueblo/Paseo del Norte to Tucker, just south of Indian School, without any grade crossing of major roads (Montgomery, Comanche, etc.).

It’s the best such setup in town, and includes benefits that might not immediately come to mind.

While stopping this afternoon to admire the new notch, my Sunday riders and I got to see a group of folks from the adjacent Morada senior living center rolling through the notch with a bit of help.

Morada residents must have been anticipating the grand notch opening as much as any of its thousands of daily/weekly users. Previously locked in by the rather inhospitable Indian School and its dangerous crossing at grade, it was great to see them enjoy a excursion on a lovely April afternoon, free of cars barreling around that curve in the birds’ eye below.

None of us bellyaching for years about the time it has taken to finally get this notch built have probably ever thought of the benefit the underpass now has for the less mobile among us. But my guess is some folks at Morada have been looking out their east-facing windows for a long time now, dreaming of the day they’d get to cross that goddamn Indian School without getting killed by a car.

And now they’re doing it.