D'Val Westphal: Inquiring minds asked: A speed round of road QandAs

D'Val Westphal, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·4 min read

Aug. 22—You asked, and state and city experts answered. Here's a speed round of road answers:

WHERE'S THE REST OF EUBANK REPAVING?

Richard Anaya emails "recently Juan Tabo was repaved for a second time in three years from Interstate 40 to Lomas. Yet, Eubank from Central all the way to Montgomery is in very poor to exceptionally poor condition — pot holes, sinking sub-base, uneven surfaces, etc. The list goes on.

"When will Eubank see the much-needed reconstruction? It is way beyond simple repairs in many sections."

Scott Cilke shares that there was a project earlier this year "on Eubank between Central and Copper. That's all that's planned for current fiscal year."

TRAMWAY VS. PASEO SPEED LIMIT: Walt asks "do you have any idea why the road speed on Tramway is 50 mph and Paseo del Norte is 55 mph? Seems like ... Paseo should be 50 as well."

Kimberly Gallegos of the New Mexico Department of Transportation explains, "Paseo has fewer signals. The speed limit is determined by studies and traffic counts also."

A BAD BUMP ON EB PASEO AT WYOMING: Jan K. says in an email "approaching the intersection of Wyoming Boulevard at Paseo del Norte, especially eastbound where the asphalt meets concrete, there is such warping of asphalt that it is quite jarring when rolling over them at 55 mph, or when hitting the brakes if the light turns red for Paseo drivers. Can the road crew grade down the 'speed bumps'?"

Gallegos says "our area maintenance supervisor checked this area and reported the main intersection had been crack-sealed and no major work is needed at this time. He will get with crews to evaluate the concrete/asphalt approach on eastbound Paseo for minor milling."

JUMPING THE MOGULS ON SAN ANTONIO: Ken says "traveling east on San Antonio between San Pedro and Louisiana, there are numerous dips in the roadway. This is caused by subsidence of an old garbage landfill many years ago. Due to most recent rains, these 'moguls' have really become more pronounced, causing unnatural jumping of the auto as you travel over them. I'm asking if the city is aware of this condition? Note they repaired one mogul some time ago and left the other untouched. Does the city have a plan to repair these once and for all?"

Cilke says "street maintenance manages the dips on San Antonio as much as it can, but in order for a complete repair, it would require a total reconstruction of this stretch of San Antonio, which is not planned at this time."

TOUGH-TO-FIX CRACKS IN IRVING/UNIVERSE AREA: Hubert Baca shares he lives "in the Irving and Universe area. The ruts between Country Knoll and Irving going north are so deep and have been there for a long time. The same deep ruts exist going west between Milky Way and Universe. It drives like you're through railroad tracks."

Cilke says "the city is aware of the cracks along these roadways and has taken measures to try to repair them and prevent them in the future. Since the measures taken so far have been unsuccessful, the city is considering different methods for future repair, but there is nothing imminently scheduled at this time."

SUNDAY SIGNALS OUT OF SYNC? Anne Burtnett shares, "I have noticed for several months that the traffic lights on Sunday mornings, before 10 a.m. at least, don't seem to be coordinated with traffic flow, especially on Eubank between Spain and Constitution, and Morris between Constitution and Spain. This results in either waiting at the lights very long times with no traffic coming in either direction or using the red lights as stop signs and going to avoid wasting time and gasoline."

Anne has watched it enough to note the signals "tend to change if a car pulls up to turn right, and even if the car just turns right, the light changes for cross traffic. So, going the 40 mph speed limit doesn't help on Eubank, and 30 mph on Morris doesn't work either. I know that traffic engineers can make changes depending on flow, so are they looking into this?"

Yes. Cilke says, "Traffic Engineering is looking into this stretch."

Editorial page editor D'Val Westphal tackles commuter issues for the metro area on Mondays. Reach her at 823-3858; dwestphal@abqjournal.com; or 7777 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87109.