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Albuquerque lack of road infrastructure, traffic getting worse, need to prepare for future population growth today, Mesa Del Sol population growth, I-25 and El Paso
On my daily commutes the last few months, I have become more and more worried about Albuquerque's current road infrastructure. I know that the citizens realize that our roads aren't going to be able to sustain to the mass growth that has been forecasted--and we will be another sorry replica of PHX. However, do our government officials realize these problems, or do they live in caves? Albuquerque needs to build highways, and other roads to increase traffic flow. I-25 and I-40 both need to be expanded. I-25 should be 8 lanes through out most of the city, and I-40 should be 10. I know this sounds crazy, but Albuquerque's traffic is only going to worsen and we need to build something now that will still be efficient 10,20,50 years from now. Mesa Del Sol has been projected to house over 100,000 people one day, but has there been any new infrastructure planned or built? NO! I-25 and Paseo is a mess, has anything happened on the issue since the issue was "discussed"? Nope. Infact, all the money that was needed for Paseo and I-25 has driftedt its way into a useless commuter tax wasting train, The Rail Runner. The West Side is only getting bigger, but there have no more new river crossings in years...this is a problem!
I guess my rant is fueled by the fact that every single day just about there is a wreck at the Big I and traffic bottlenecks. Albuquerque's traffic wouldn't be that affected today by construction of new roads, but imagine 20 years from now when the roads are in absolute necessity, and you have to shut down lanes to expand.
This city seems to be on a bad course that can easily be fixed. PHX had the same infrastructure as Albuquerque for along time; however, they had 4X the population. This isn't going to cut it. Albuquerque needs more highways, bigger roads, more efficient and usable public transportation, and most of all, competent leaders--the latter of course is almost downright impossible to attain.
The first refute to all my statements I expect to see is about money. Where is all the money going to come from? The simple answer is to stop diverting all the tax moneys from transportation for political gains. The Rail Runner serves a very small select group. This was more for Richardson's political resume than anything else. Perhaps instead of wasting money on a supposed pond infront of the Balloon Musuem we can have more roads. Toll Roads might even be a solution--make people pay to use the roads. I don't advocate this because I don't want to pay to drive to work everyday, but then again, it will help keep unneccessary drivers off the roads! Anyway, this was more of a rant than anything else. You can take it or leave it (and maybe even drop a few rep points if you want...ha ha ha JK!), but I just feel we, like every other city in this world, are not being proactive in curbing the problems our growth is going to bring!
More lanes is important in Albuquerque and a couple of river Crossings would help to direct traffic away from the interstates. The Clines Corners and Rest areas there and Moriarty areas are getting harder to get on the Interstates because of Heavy semi traffic they need to make the On Lanes longer it shouldnt be that hard since theres plenty of space. el pintada kid
El Pintada Kid, you bring up another excellent point. Perhaps, the state should develop an alternate truck route for I-40 that bypasses Albuquerque. Perhaps something that picks up at Moriarity and Drops Traffic back off at Rt. 66 Casino, or like Grants or something. This would greatly ease the semi-traffic in the city I would think.
I've lived in two states with toll roads, Texas and Florida. Toll roads aren't a bad idea, if they're done correctly.
I like the way Florida has one toll tag that works on all the toll roads (they have one statewide toll authority). However, the downside to that is it means the tolls collected on the various roads do not stay in the community but instead fund roads all over the state. It wouldn't be a bad thing, except the toll rates are set (in part) by usage and debt, so if I pay more to use the Suncoast Parkway in Tampa, then by jove, the funds should stay in Tampa, instead of partially funding the much heavier used (and cheaper to drive) toll road in Ft. Lauderdale. It also means that some toll roads are built for political gain rather than driver convenience, although fortunately not too many were done in Florida - the greater bulk of the toll roads ARE in areas where there is need for them.
OTOH, with different toll authorities, you have the problem TX has - one toll tag does not fit all roads, and the downside of keeping the money in the immediate community is you have to keep building more and more roads to use up the funds....thus increasing sprawl. Anyone wonder why the development is so heavy north of Dallas? That was the North Dallas toll authority's response when the Houston toll authority started petitioning the state legislature for some of the NDTA excess funds.
Constructing a trucking by-pass is a good idea, El Pintada Kid. I wonder, though, would it have an economic impact on ABQ, or is our business infrastructure strong enough now that a by-pass wouldn't be felt?
I've been saying that ABQ needs more lanes on the interstates and more roads to ease traffic for a couple of years now,and I feel the same way and wonder why no one is doing anything about this,ABQ needs to worry about this now and not 10 years from now.
> ... develop an alternate truck route for I-40 that bypasses Albuquerque.
> ... Moriarity ... Grants or something.
Pretty much all the highways follow natural land contours. To bypass Albuquerque you would either have to go South around the Manzanos through a canyon similar to Tijeras Canyon or North around the Sandias - connecting to I-25 near Santa Fe.
The only bypass I could see would be one from N of Bernalillo around the West and connecting to I-40. This is likely since the next 500,000 people to settle in the Albuquerque area will be spilling over the top of the West Mesa -- like it or not.
> Mesa Del Sol has been projected to house over 100,000 people one day,
> but has there been any new infrastructure planned or built? NO!
Supposedly, Mesa Del Sol will be largely self-contained with both employment and housing where people won't have to leave the area for commuting purposes.
My guess is that by the time it is all said and done, it's going to need a whole stack interchange and I-25 will be four or five lanes in each direction there.
> I-25 and I-40 both need to be expanded.
That would be fine with me as well as an additional 20-30 cents per gallon tax on gasoline state-wide that will fund such an expansion. The additional cost of gasoline will have the added benefit of reducing demand for the roads and slowing expansion of the city.
yukon advised:
> ... two states with toll roads, Texas and Florida. Toll roads aren't a bad idea, if they're done correctly.
I've been there, driven the roads, and I concur. It makes the people who use the roads pay for those roads and the road conditions can be mandated rather than kept in good condition via political favors.
The toll booths for cash-paying drivers are an extremely minor inconvenience and for locals with pass-cards, almost no impact on driving at all.
It has the added benefit of discouraging people from getting on at one entrance ramp, driving a mile or so and getting off - cleaning up the traffic flows tremendously.
The best truck bypass for Albuquerque is called the BNSF railroad. The entire nation has to move interstate truck traffic to the railroad system including rebuilding abandoned rail lines where necessary. The commuter rail line has to be extended and connected to an east west line along with better bus connections. This will cost a lot of money and will require people to think beyond their own benefit and consider the public benefit, not just their own. Toll roads are not an answer and never have been. They just become cash cows for a select few investors that milk them for private profit and let them deteriorate until they can sell them to the public before repairs are made. This is great for the investors bad for the rest of us.
Adding lanes will not do very much to improve traffic flow because the improved flow just attracts enough more cars to slow traffic to the previous pace. Boston recently completed a huge (15 billion dollar Big Dig) traffic project. Rush hour traffic has already increased to the point of jamming just like it did before the improvement. Here in southern New Hampshire we are widening I-93 to 3 or 4 lanes per side. I expect only a short-term improvement. Most of the time the road is nearly empty. The congestion is a rush hour problem and wider roads only attract more commuters instead of local development. At least the bridges around New Mexico are not rotting due to salt corrosion. Around here I think rust is considered a structural material.
> ... best truck bypass for Albuquerque is called the BNSF railroad. ...
I have to agree with you there. The trucks could drive up on a specialized flat car in Santa Rosa where the tracks meet I-40 and ride all the way around through the pass S of the Manzanos and then back up to I-40.
There is also not ever going to be an E-W rail line that is going to be able to carry a truck on its back through Albuquerque.
> ... cost a lot of money and will require people to think beyond
> their own benefit and consider the public benefit, not just their own.
Wouldn't "people" benefit from not having trucks on I-40 at rush hour?
There is no conceivable way to expand the E-W capacity of the freeway for road vehicles, so GregW's E-W bypass idea is likely the only way to add it. I-40 is completely hemmed-in by development.
> Toll roads are not an answer and never have been.
They are not *the* answer, but are *an* answer.
> They just become cash cows for a select few investors that milk
> them for private profit ...
So what?
> and let them deteriorate until they can sell them to the public before
> repairs are made. This is great for the investors bad for the rest of us.
Maybe that's an experience that you have had, but as yukon and I have seen in TX and FL, they work in some places - providing a much higher quality of road.
Your complaint is about corruption in high places where it is *allowed* that the roads deteriorate. As I stated before, the condition of the road can be mandated by the regulators. As it stands now, the roads deteriorate already and there are *no* investors to go after to make the repairs unless you consider the taxpayers "investors."
> Adding lanes will not do very much to improve traffic flow because
> the improved flow just attracts enough more cars to slow traffic
> to the previous pace.
You keep asserting this in other threads and it is simply not true. The traffic comes from the people who are living in the area and driving that route. It doesn't matter if you have a two-lane or six-lane freeway. The drivers will go whatever way is best. The residents will go wherever there is more empty land to build a house. ... then they will drive ...
If you do not have the freeway capacity then the surface road traffic flow will deteriorate even more.
Abqsunport brings up one of the most vexing problems of a growing Albuquerque. I agree completely about not enough being done.
With Mortimer I also agree on a I25 bypass. Necessary and inevitable. Branching out north of Bernaillo connecting to I40. And if it's not too far out then reconnecting with I25 south of the city. But this needs to be planned now or it will be too late.
Take a look at any Rand McNally road atlas and you can see immediately that ABQ is underserved by freeways. Look at roughly comparable population MSA's like Albany/Schenectady NY, Omaha, NE. Raleigh, NC, Grand Rapids, MI, etc and you will see the difference. Granted some of these areas are in more densely populated areas of the country, but Albuquerque is growing at a pretty good clip.
Tucson is an exception to this, a little bit larger than ABQ but similarly underserved by freeways. And this is a burning issue there where growth is so strong and traffic is formidable.
More freeways, and widening of freeways may not be very popular here, but I think they are a necessity. The Railrunner as much as I love the idea will not siphon off much traffic from the highways.
I do remember reading on NM DOT several months ago that in the late summer and/or early fall this year that the San Mateo interchange reconstruction will begin and also the I-25 south from Gibson to Rio Bravo will be widen and reconstructed to 3 lanes.
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Albuquerque and East Mountain idea
