Rio Rancho, Bernalillo Traffic Congestion (Albuquerque, Santa Fe: home, rent, work)

[nmguy]

With all the building that's going on in Rio Rancho and Bernalillo, there's a heckuva traffic problem on the horizon.

Hwy 550, as it is currently configured, is unable to handle the increased load.

Does anyone have an solution to this upcoming problem?

[mortimer]

My solution is not to go or live there.

Seriously, visiting the Jemez valley is looking like it is going to become
more and more difficult unless you are prepared to leave before 8 am
on a weekend day.

I pretty much take any visitor that I entertain in NM up that way, but
coming back, I almost always take Rt 14 back since I-25 is one big
exercise in stress management.

Someday, there might be a bypass built there that roughly follows the
ridge where the W Mesa drops off to the Rio Puerco. I'm not saying I'll
be happy to see it, just that I think it might be coming.

Speaking of things that are coming; extra lanes on I-25 between ABQ
and Santa Fe.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by mortimer

My solution is not to go or live there.

Seriously, visiting the Jemez valley is looking like it is going to become
more and more difficult unless you are prepared to leave before 8 am
on a weekend day.

I pretty much take any visitor that I entertain in NM up that way, but
coming back, I almost always take Rt 14 back since I-25 is one big
exercise in stress management.

Someday, there might be a bypass built there that roughly follows the
ridge where the W Mesa drops off to the Rio Puerco. I'm not saying I'll
be happy to see it, just that I think it might be coming.

Speaking of things that are coming; extra lanes on I-25 between ABQ
and Santa Fe.

The problem with widening freeways as I see it is that they are forever torn up making traffic worse than it would be if they just left it alone.

[_yb]

There has been talk of putting a river crossing at the first Bernalillo exit. The town does not want that at all. There is not much you can do to 550. The ideal thing would be to take traffic away from 550 with another river crossing.

My idea is to put a crossing from 25 trough the sandia pueblo. There is a wash that runs on the north end of corrales right along corrales road to 528 were it turns into Obregon. You could elavate the road above the wash and pretty much run it all the way to unser. You could take alot of pressure off of 550 with a crossing like that.

The state would have to work something out with the pueblo plus the corrales nimbys.

[Zoidberg]

Sandia Pueblo would tolerate a toll bridge they get to keep some of the revenues from, probably.

You're looking at 10+ year wait to turn Southern/Meadowlark into an access road to a river crossing across to Roy/Tramway/4th. Corrales would fight it tooth and nail, and I can't say I blame them. Their quite-substantial property values are tied to a very quiet slow pace of life, and any thoroughfare, access-restricted or no, would totally destroy that. State would have to E.D. the land. Do we really need a 10th river crossing? The more crossings, the more people who decide the commute is worth it. You can't tell me there is zero correlation.

I sure am glad that the spillover from those "career-commuters" (people who buy their home with the full expectation that a 30-minute commute each way will be their typical day, even if they complain about it) doesn't affect my part of town all that much.

[LLD]

In general Albuquerque needs more east/west access to the West side. Specifically for 550... IMNSHO you need a bypass where there is an elevated road that goes above 550 so you can bypass all those lights in Bernallio past the 528 traffic light or even the light at Sprint Blvd by Home Depot. This would significantly decrease congestion and speed up traffic.

[nmguy]

LLD, I think I like your 'elevated road' solution.

Just one question . . . . Where and how would it end without creating a bottleneck?

[Zoidberg]

Looking at Rio Rancho's Plats, it's obvious that Idalia Rd. was laid out to act as a freeway, tying to the west end of the metro area, and mysteriously running out of space right at 550 or thereabouts.

In the coming decades you may find some agreement between Santa Ana and the state about making another exit perhaps 1 mile north of Bernalillo's northern exit, and connecting freeway over that land to Idalia.

[LLD]

The bottlenecks are not there because the people get off at the exits they need and if they don't need to get off they go straight thru with no lights.

The big bottleneck that happens now is caused a lot by all the lights and the cross traffic. This would get some major alleviation with a bypass. It's done all the time in many cities across the country.

Think how Paseo Del Norte works AFTER you get past several of the lights. Even with fairly heavy traffic at 5:00 pm once you are past the lights on the elevated portion that has a few exits here and there, traffic moves fairly well.

[mortimer]

I've seen towns (like Huntsvill, AL) that take a main road like
550 and leapfrog most of the intersections and close off the
small ones to the main road making that traffic use the frontage.

Where the crossovers occur, there are frontage roads that
exiting traffic uses to go left or right in addition to U-turn
lanes that allow people who need to overshoot their street.

Driving the main road is a bit like a rollercoaster ride, but with
no lights. Crossing through Bernalillo would be no big deal at
45 mph as long as you didn't have to stop until you got to
your road.