About ten years ago, an intense, rather belligerent guy headed this City board I got roped into doing, the Greater Albuquerque Bicycle Advisory Committee (GABAC). I got roped in because somebody told me I was smart, and I’m always a sucker for anyone who tells me that. If I ever win the lottery, all ya gotta do is tell me “Scot, you were so smart picking those lotto numbers,” and I’ll probably give you a million bucks.

Anyway, the intense, rather belligerent guy heading GABAC taught me a great number of things, including the reality that being rather belligerent needs to be mixed with understanding and listening to be effective. I honestly don’t know if I/ve really learned that lesson, at least in practice, but another thing he taught has definitely stuck with me since.

It’s absolutely essential to visit and ride through any roadway infrastructure under discussion.

Discussing, “advising,” advocating, etc. is nothing if all you’re doing is, say, reading the current draft of the City o’ ABQ 2024 Bicycle Plan and basing your viewpoint on roadway theory, Google Streetviews, etc. Ya gotta hit the streets. My intense, rather belligerent GABAC colleague was damn right about that.

All of which gets me to both specifically the proposed Edith Blvd. “bike boulevard” (put in quotes because that can mean SO many things) and Better Burque in general. If this blog has any insight at all, it’s the easy, not terribly profound fact that I actually do go out and ride all over the place, very much including the places proposed for near and far-term bike infrastructure improvements in the ’24 Plan.

So when I see the aforementioned list of mostly highly prioritized improvements in the plan…

Overly long preface aside, when talking Edith Blvd. as a “bike boulevard” I can report that BB has been hyping this idea for years, long enough back that I wrote a little something about it for the long-defunct Duke City Fix seven years ago.

Back then I called it a “Yellow Brick Road” instead of “Bike Boulevard” because: A. I like old movies; B. “Bike Boulevard” can mean so many things it kinda has no meaning at this point. If you read the Duke City Fix piece linked above, you’ll get the basic idea (only several images are broken because DCF is very much dead), but I will add a point or two here today as well.

In short, before going way too long, my biggest correction to the proposed “bike boulevard” on Edith from Gibson Blvd. to Menaul Blvd. is that part of it should definitely NOT be on Edith, but William St. instead. And last week I already posted the single biggest reason for this vital switch, in that Edith crosses Avenida Cesar Chavez at grade (through a red light), while William avoids the Avenida via an underpass. To save you a click through, here are those two views.

One thing I didn’t mention last time out with these photos is that you’ll notice I’m standing in the middle of William St. taking the photo and standing on the sidewalk taking the shot at Edith/Avenida. There’s a VERY good reason for that, one I think you have already ascertained, but here’s a few photos to further this point.

You might be asking, “Scot, why don’t you have a photo of William at Gibson?” Good question with an even better answer: William doesn’t cross Gibson! Gibson terminates eastbound at Broadway (did you know way back when that Gibson was planned to not only cross Broadway but go over the River as part of a never-constructed loop of the city?) So, cyclists riding Willliam avoid both Gibson (altogether) and Avenida Cesar Chavez (via underpass). Every other east-west street in East San Jose and adjacent neighborhoods is a pleasant low-stress cakewalkbike.

Moreover, did you know William Street is so great, besides the lack of traffic and stop signs, that it now has signs and other infrastructure noting it’s the spiffiest way ever to get to/from the Bosque Path? We will now take a photo detour to show the many who do not yet know about this.

Have you ever ridden/walked the Bosque Path south of the Barelas Ball Fields and noticed this little spur heading off to the east? Well…

I know, I know. Actual signs indicating presence of bicycle infrastructure? In Albuquerque??? No, I did NOT PHOTOSHOP these/signs infrastructure! It really does look like this, as you’d know if you actually rode out there. In contrast, let’s return to the photo of the proposed southern terminus of an Edith Blvd. “bike bouleard” at Gibson:

So, augmenting any proposed Edith “bike boulevard” with William Street accomplishes the following:

• Avoids the only busy stroads on the route
• Connects to the Bosque Path
• I didn’t already mention this but William starts further south than Edith/Gibson, ergo More “Bike Boulevard”
• And I didn’t mention this either, but you can see it in the photos above: William Street is now a designated bike “route” (e.g., has “sharrows”)

Okay, Scot has belabored that point interminably. Let’s speed things up a bit in closing with a photo mini-essay on little things we could do to further improve the aforementioned “Yellow Brick Road.”

I know the prose and photos above combine to inarguably PROVE that we MUST do EXACTLY as Scot proposes. I kid, returning back to lessons learned from the rather belligerent colleague at GABAC. Please, go ride and check out this site, and all proposed sites, early and often. Not only might your “mileage vary,” so to speak, but it’s very likely you’ll come up with other great new ideas not mentioned above or anywhere. Besides, I’m asking you to go on some bike rides and that, I’ve come to know and love, is NEVER a bad idea.