Took some time out of my Friday bike ride yesterday to check out developments at the City’s refurbishing of its 50-Mile Activity Loop from Jerry Cline Park over I-40 and east to Pennsylvania NE.
I stole the map above from BikeABQ because I can’t find any City information on the work/closure. BikeABQ says this work will be in place “less than 12 days.” I guess that quote is from the City, but how the hell would I know as I can’t find any info from the City. So heck, let’s just embed BikeABQ’s Tweet:
Here at Constitution and Louisiana at start-up of multi-use trail around Jerry Cline Park, somebody had already graciously moved the “barricade” out of the way. Note the extreme lack of any sign/explanation at this start of the work. This extreme lack is a major “feature” of this project.
As we round the Park just beyond the trail underpass west under Louisiana, there’s still enough room to squeeze by this barricade.
Now at the western base of the I-40 bridge, again some nice person has evidently broken the law for us and made it possible to enter the bridge and avoid the detour that would add about 45 minutes, or more, of time to someone trying to walk the trail. If you’ve ever used this trail/bridge, you know how popular it is for walkers making their way to/from the Park, mall, etc..
Here at the eastern end of the bridge as we return to ground level, more friendly moving of “barricades” and flat, well-packed dirt ready for resurfacing. I rode out there yesterday (7.26.24) about 10 A.M. and nobody was working on the project. If folks had been working on it, I would have done what all walker/rollers do in such a situation: We would just go around them and their equipment. Not a big deal. Happens all the time.
And here at Pennsylvania and eastern terminus of the work, we’re looking back west at the “barricades” that have similarly been conveniently moved to allow passage. I looked everywhere around this point for any City sign, information, detour map, anything about this project…and found absolutely nothing.
Speaking of the detour, I also rode the suggested detour route and found riding down Pennsylvania, bike lanes or no bike lanes, undesirable, particularly in contrast to a motorized vehicle-free multi-use trail. It would help to put temporary cones or such along the bike lanes on Pennsylvania, especially as there are very few driveways along the route or any, of course, on the overpass of I-40, but it’s still gonna be better using the multi-use path.
So what? So why even bring this up here? It’s only gonna last “less than 12 days” and, besides, smart folks aren’t gonna pay any attention to the “barricades” anyway?
I dunno. Just seems like we could do this a bit differently, and without making walker/rollers feel like scofflaws in the process. Perhaps the single biggest adjustment in planning/implementing such appreciated work (we really do appreciate it!) would be to have actual walkers and rollers plan and implement the work. Not people who drive their SUV to the office and drive their City vehicle to the job site.
These roadway construction jobs are NOT like such jobs for drivers. If this job was like those, my photos of the “barricades” would show them smashed into a million bits by drivers plowing through them instead of them simply being moved a couple of feet. We walkers/rollers move through and around such work; we don’t endanger anyone in doing so.
As you fellow walkers/rollers reading this blogpost have already considered, from long experience with such projects, IF the work and construction equipment were blocking things (e.g., the I-40 bridge deck was torn up), we would grimace a bit and turn around. Sure, we’d also curse the fact there was NO communication from the City about the project or signs about it at either terminus of the work, but we’d just turn around.
Until the work absolutely requires turning around, we’re just going to work around the work. Seems like there could be a better way, but as long as driver-mindset folks plan/implement all these projects, we’re just gonna have to keep “breaking the law.”
Better Burque 