[Neighbors] Pardon our mess!

Mon Jul 18 12:35:50 MDT 2016

Nob Hill Neighbors -- 

The City Council does not meet in July, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy.

Sometimes it seems like government spends a lot of time planning and not enough time doing. I'm proud that we are changing that just a little.

When I first came to office, I asked our staff to take a new look at projects that had been requested by neighborhoods and were “shovel ready” or close to it.  And we’ve spent the past six months funding, designing and sometimes reimagining them to put your tax dollars to use improving District 6's neighborhoods and streets.

I want to share with you our progress so far:

Dangerous Albuquerque Road to Get Major Facelift with Road Improvements <https://www.cabq.gov/council/find-your-councilor/district-6/news/dangerous-albuquerque-road-to-get-major-facelift-with-road-improvements>
 <https://www.cabq.gov/council/find-your-councilor/district-6/news/dangerous-albuquerque-road-to-get-major-facelift-with-road-improvements>Almost 5 years after the first community meetings to redesign one of Albuquerque’s deadliest urban roadways, we were still 2-3 years away from delivering on the improvements needed to prevent tragedies like the six pedestrian and bicycle deaths along this roadway over the past few years.

I challenged our staff to find a new approach to move the plan for the Zuni Road Safety & Traffic Improvements and they did!  By combining street funds set aside by Councilor Garduno with new funds available to me and a match from County Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins, Zuni road now has turn lanes, bicycle lanes, bicycle/traffic buffer lanes and pedestrian crosswalks at our busiest pedestrian crossing points, including where most students cross Zuni to access Highland High School every day.

Now, east/west traffic can flow unimpeded by sudden stopping vehicles, turning cars and wayward pedestrians and bicycles making one of our most dangerous streets into one of Albuquerque’s safest.

Future work will improve sidewalks and intersections.   Read More <https://www.cabq.gov/council/find-your-councilor/district-6/news/dangerous-albuquerque-road-to-get-major-facelift-with-road-improvements>

Silver Avenue Improvements through Nob Hill <https://www.cabq.gov/council/find-your-councilor/district-6/projects-special-initiatives/silver-avenue-bicycle-boulevard-improvements>

  - BetterBurque.org: Actual, Bona Fide Good News in a Media Plague Year: Silver Ave. Bike Boulevard <https://betterburque.org/2016/07/18/actual-bona-fide-good-news-in-a-media-plague-year-silver-ave-bike-boulevard/>

Silver Avenue was designated a Bicycle Boulevard by the City Council in 2009 but the mix of two-way traffic, frequent stops and street-side parking has made this a less than ideal option for bicyclists.

In May of 2015, former Councilor Rey Garduño began a study and a series of public meetings that helped us design a new bike boulevard that 1) adds parking for Nob Hill-area businesses, 2) provides a real east/west throughway for bicycles and 3) makes improvements to arterial crossings, such as Girard and Carlisle, to make them more navigable by less-experienced cyclists.

Since taking office, I worked with our staff and the City’s Municipal Development Department to fast-track this project so that we can provide needed parking and a safer environment for bicyclists and drivers alike.

The redesign is slated to begin in a few weeks.  You can see the new designs on the project page here. <https://www.cabq.gov/council/find-your-councilor/district-6/projects-special-initiatives/silver-avenue-bicycle-boulevard-improvements>

COMING SOON: Girard Blvd. Improvements for Bicycle Lanes and Complete Streets <http://www.cabq.gov/council/projects/neighborhood-projects/girard-boulevard-complete-streets-master-plan/girard-boulevard-complete-streets-master-plan>

At the request of abutting neighborhoods and in light of new development and changing transportation needs at the University of New Mexico, City Councilors Isaac Benton and Rey Garduño sponsored a street improvement master plan study of Girard Boulevard.

Over the last year, I worked with Councilors Isaac Benton, Council staff, the City’s Department of Municipal Development and an engineering consulting firm to produce detailed striping diagrams including bike lanes and “sharrow” markings for the entire roadway and sidewalk improvements for the segment between Central Ave. and Lomas Blvd. Implementation of the new striping is expected to occur in late Spring of 2017.

We will hold a public open house onTuesday, August 9 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of the First Congregational Church, 2801 Lomas Blvd. (Northwest corner of Lomas and Girard) to review these engineering drawings.  Any interested party is encouraged to attend.

You can learn more about the history of this project by clicking here <http://www.cabq.gov/council/projects/neighborhood-projects/girard-boulevard-complete-streets-master-plan/girard-boulevard-complete-streets-master-plan>.”

The City Council will return with regular meetings beginning on August 1st. 

In the meantime, we’ve all been watching the situations unfolding in Minnesota, Baton Rouge and Dallas with a heavy heart.  As a former police officer, I’ll be the first to say that we can – and should – be both pro-police and black lives, and all lives for that matter.

I was traveling last week and found myself working alongside a city councilor from Dallas as the events there unfolded.  The way his city responded gave me hope that Albuquerque can also come together to rise above our policing challenges.

My op-ed <http://www.abqjournal.com/809460/the-solution-to-rising-crime-in-albuquerque-is-not-a-new-study.html> in today’s Albuquerque Journal provides my perspective on our rising crime and our failure to address it for those of us who have been victims of crime in our city.  I also offer a few suggestions we can implement to get us back on track.

Read it here <http://www.abqjournal.com/809460/the-solution-to-rising-crime-in-albuquerque-is-not-a-new-study.html> and send me your reactions.

-  Pat

-=-=-
Patrick Davis for ABQ - 3926 Simms Ave SE, Albuquerque, NM 87108, United States 
This email was sent to neighbors_nobhill-nm at mailman.swcp.com.  To stop receiving emails: http://www.patforabq.com/unsubscribe
-=-=-

Created with NationBuilder - http://nationbuilder.com/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.swcp.com/pipermail/neighbors_nobhill-nm/attachments/20160718/2530acf1/attachment.html>