City officials discuss putting roundabout on proposed Richards extension

Dec. 6—City officials and contractors on Monday discussed putting a roundabout on the long-planned Richards Avenue extension to help slow drivers and create a smoother traffic flow in a new stretch of the roadway in central Santa Fe.

The proposed addition failed to placate the project's critics, however.

Some residents support the connector route because it would relieve traffic on streets in surrounding neighborhoods and provide a more direct route between Cerrillos Road and Rodeo Road, where Richards Avenue heads south to the Santa Fe Community College District.

Others oppose it, saying it would funnel more traffic through their neighborhoods. A traffic study estimated the extension would escalate traffic on Richards Avenue to about 10,000 vehicles a day.

The planned extension has been contentious since it was first conceived.

The city aims to buy about 23 acres from the state Department of Game and Fish, several acres of which are needed for the extension to cross over.

The State Game Commission had planned to vote on the land sale Friday but canceled the meeting because it lacked a quorum. The hearing has been rescheduled for Thursday.

Two options are under consideration for what is expected to become a busy intersection before the road would cross the Arroyo de los Chamisos just north of Rodeo de Santa Fe. One would be a traditional T-shaped intersection where Richards Avenue and a fire station service road would meet. The other would be a roundabout where Richards, the fire station road and Camino del Prado would converge.

The big advantages to the roundabout would be to deter speeding motorists on the extended stretch of Richards Avenue and increase safety for bicyclists and pedestrians in that area, officials said at the special meeting Monday.

Regina Wheeler, the city's public works director, said officials involved in the project initially decided on the T-intersection.

But the Santa Fe Metropolitan Planning Organization expressed concerns about "an opportunity for drag racing across that arroyo," she said.

What's more, traffic volume is expected to grow considerably after the extension is built, Wheeler said. So planners came up with the roundabout concept to curb both traffic speed and volume.

"We think it does serve the community better in all those scenarios," Wheeler said. "We really went back to the drawing board to try to really take into consideration ... things we'll be dealing with years and years with this roadway."

A few residents expressed support for a roundabout Monday, saying it will calm traffic and prevent the connector from turning into a drag-race strip.

"We have a lot of drag racing on Rodeo ... and adding this would've been a total nightmare for everybody in the [Camino] Prado Vista neighborhood," resident Rachel Thompson said.

For some people, the roundabout didn't seem enough of a traffic-calming measure.

Resident Leslie Reynolds asked whether the city would consider installing speed bumps.

Jim Heismann, an engineering consultant with WSP in Albuquerque, said the pedestrian crossings will be raised, serving the function of speed bumps.

Resident Floyd Cable said he would rather the extension not be built at all, but given city leaders have made up their minds to move ahead with it, he'd prefer a roundabout.

"As I noted in the previous public meeting, it feels like the city has always wanted to do this and was going to find a way to do it no matter what," Cable said. "I made a plea at that time ... to please do everything possible to mitigate the impact on the neighbors around what's going to become a very busy road."

A couple of residents asked about plans for development on city-owned land around the roadway after it's extended.

City Councilor Jamie Cassutt said it was too early to say, noting the extension is still in the conceptual stage, and the city has yet to buy the land required to build it.

When asked when construction would begin, Leroy Pacheco, a contractor managing the project, said it was too soon to make an accurate prediction.

It will take all of next year just to get through preliminary phases, such as design, Pacheco said, adding the project could cost as much as $15 million because it's complex.

Pacheco said the extension would create a new north-south route between two major thoroughfares that would relieve traffic in adjacent neighborhoods where motorists are cutting through.

"You're sort of spreading it out equitably," Pacheco said.

Lucy River, who owns a home near Richards, said she backs the roundabout because it would help prevent drag racing. But she criticized the city for not consulting with residents on the design and how future development on the extension could affect them.

"It feels a little bit like we're frogs being boiled by degrees to death," River said.