Recent improvements of Rio Grande Boulevard north of I-40 have made driving and cycling safer, but little to nothing (make that nothing) has been done for users of its sidewalks. The result is this startling multi-modal disconnect: Drivers get a “calmed” single lane, cyclists get a wide-striping buffer, walkers get a long-distance obstacle course, and… Read More Rio Grande Blvd.: Nice Bike Lane, Screw Anybody Using the Sidewalk

A quickie Google search finds this innocent lede from 2010: The city will be hosting a week of workshops to consider concerns and improvements to the Rio Grande Boulevard corridor. Further below in the short news item is a truly powerful word: The city had been studying the possibility of a roundabout at Candelaria and… Read More A Live-Look at the Rio Grande/Candelaria R…

The most interesting instances of walkability happen in places of new construction. Historic insensitivity to the needs and desires of those using sidewalks are one thing, but outcomes such as the above along Central just west of New York Avenue are another. This is brand-new work, done as part of the Albuquerque Rapid Transit improvements.… Read More When You Can Tell They Don’t Plan to Walk Here

It’s complicated and involves many governmental acronyms, but those interested in area transportation should follow and get involved in the on-going process known more informally as the “long range plan” and formally as (and don’t say I didn’t want you): “Connections 2040 MTP.” You see, the MRMPO led by MRCOG is putting together an update… Read More Long Range Transportation Plan Update Nearing Completion

The long and short (or “wide and narrow” as you’ll read below) of Better Burque in 2020 is a fairly simple question: Why isn’t Albuquerque more safely walkable and what can we do to change that?  We are resolved in 2020 to prune our tendency to rampantly wander, yet this fairly simple question still, of… Read More First in a Very Long Series: Hindrances to Safely Walking ABQ

Albuquerque’s Sawmill District is booming to an extent found nowhere else in town, BNSF notwithstanding. New sidewalk placed along with construction of the Market and adjacent office space and apartments is abruptly interrupted so that ancient track, never to be used again, isn’t covered, fence/gate or no goddamn fence/gate. Yeah, we shoulda nationalized the U.S.… Read More Rail Tracks in Perpetuity