I-25 & Paseo Del Norte Interchange (Albuquerque: costs, shopping center, vehicle)

[mortimer]

Originally Posted by crackiswhack

I'll be just slightly east of 1-25, using Paseo del Norte to get
to I-25 south, traveling "hopefully" before and after rush hour

That's going to be easy. For a really bad intersection, the Westbound
Paseo - from the East has an easy time getting onto I-25 just about any
time. If you get there before 7 am you usually only have one light cycle.

Eastbound - river crossing Paseo should be much better with no lights,
but it so frequently gets shut down by accidents that it must be a pain.
Getting onto I-25 is not so easy since there is a big bottleneck. The city
found it necessary to put up a bunch of lane crossing barriers to try to
prevent people from driving to the head of the line, stopping-and-blocking
the lane to "squeeze" into the line. ( They still do this, but do it at the
point the barriers start. ) I call them "BDI Entitlement Monkeys."

Westbound is irritating because of all the unnecessary stops, but it keeps
moving. You'll find yourself hitting the brakes just as you get up to speed
after the red light at the previous intersection. Consider yourself lucky to
actually make it through two or three intersections without having to
come to a complete stop if you travel all the way down from Tramway.
Just stay out of Zoidberg's way and you'll be fine.

Coming home, getting off I-25 to Westbound to return to the West
side always backs up - often on to the freeway. Here, again,
Eastbound Paseo has it easy and very rarely do you have to pile up
behind people trying to get to their left ( to the West ). Occasionally,
you'll get a BDI with a sense of entitlement coming up from behind
you in the Northbound I-25 access road unclear on the concept of
who, exactly, has the right-of-way.

I'm amazed that there are not more collisions between Northbound
access drivers and exiting I-25 drivers. I've never seen or heard
of a collision or the results.

Originally Posted by crackiswhack

rush hour ( ... when, ... ) ... on the road by 6:15 or so in the AM, ...

7:45 am +/- 20 minutes or so and 5 pm +/- 40. The hours you
stated that you would be traveling will be so easy to drive that
you will just scoff ...

If you don't already know, the I-25/Paseo interchange is to be re-built.
Since it will cost around $250-350 million, it's on hold indefinitely, but
will someday, certainly, be done.

My guess is that once it is done, people will be able to get onto and off
of I-25 very nicely, but will just end up being backed up on either I-25 or
Paseo because where before traffic only trickled onto those streets,
once the interchange is done, it will pour onto them. For the commuter,
there will be no actual improvement in commute times - except
for people like you driving way before and after rush hour.

[lobo]

One time we had just exited on Paseo from northbound I-25. We were sitting at the light waiting to turn west on Paseo when we saw a car that was going to turn south and try to enter the freeway going the wrong direction! We were stuck at the light watching this driver who appeared to be an elderly grandma who had her young grandson in the car with her. When they crossed our path we frantically waved our arms in front of us and screamed "Nooooo!" The young boy in the passenger seat stared at us as they drove by probably thinking, "What the heck?" A few seconds later there was a horrible crash when their car was broadsided. We saw it coming, but there was nothing we could do.

[Skyszlimit]

Oh Well! Hot off the Press!!

Looks like they have just SCRAPPED their plans for overhauling the Paseo and 1-25 interchange!!!

KOB.com - Paseo del Norte/ I-25 interchange project scrapped (http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S1594751.shtml?cat=504 - broken link)

[mortimer]

Originally Posted by Skyszlimit

... SCRAPPED their plans for ... interchange!!!

The article says that they did this in order to free up $20 million
that was set aside by the city when it looked like the plan was
going to get federal money. The city can use that money right
now for appeasing unions and such things.

The title of the article makes it appear that there is no intention
of proceeding with this idea in the future.

If the feds said that they would be writing a check tomorrow,
the plan would be back on - tomorrow.

[crackiswhack]

OK... being one of the newbies in town... can someone help me?

I do NOT understand Paseo del Norte. Speed limits of 55-60 mph, then you approach a traffic light that doesn't have an extended transition from green to yellow to red, and you're expected to stop??!?!? How does that work? This just seems dangerous to me, to have a road with such high speed limits AND traffic lights like it does. The traffic lights I'm fine with (at exchanges like Wyoming, Louisiana, etc., etc.) but why so fast? I just haven't quite gotten comfortable with it yet, and I think I feel better traveling at more a 50 mph or so range (yes, I'm probably the annoying slowpoke holding you all up!)

As reference, this is coming from someone who previously traveled no faster than 4 mph to get to work or shopping (by foot, of course!)

What do you think?

[Mike Horrell]

If the traffic density and road condition allow 60mph, why not? I see your point about
60 to zero, zero to 60, 60 to zero all along the east side of Paseo, but I use it pretty
often and I haven't seen many real incidents that were primarily related to speed or
the number of lights. Stupidity, yes... that exists everywhere..

If it works, don't knock it.

[crackiswhack]

Originally Posted by Mike Horrell

If the traffic density and road condition allow 60mph, why not? I see your point about
60 to zero, zero to 60, 60 to zero all along the east side of Paseo, but I use it pretty
often and I haven't seen many real incidents that were primarily related to speed or
the number of lights. Stupidity, yes... that exists everywhere..

If it works, don't knock it.

I definitely agree that traffic density and the excellent road conditions are favorable... I was complaining more about the 0 -> 60 -> 0. Probably it's just a matter of me getting used to it, but thus far I've kind of been like a deer in headlights!

[Mike Horrell]

Eventually the density will raise to the point that the limit will have to be reduced so
enjoy it while you can!

[Zoidberg]

I disagree with the speed limit reduction theory. I predict interchanges creeping up from the freeway, first at San Pedro, and so on (after perhaps they get a clue about proper light sequencing)..

With regard to their scrapping the Paseo/I-25 project, I'm ready to hear a "yeah, that was a bad idea" from everybody who supported the Paseo Extension to Ventana Ranch, which cost, coincidentally, about the same as Paseo/I-25 was supposed to (the difference being city bonds, which we're still paying on, were a much larger component of the financing for PDNX). People who have been to Ventana Ranch more than once in the past 6 months are exempted from the request.

But hey, far better that a couple hundred leapfrog development residents get to save 2 minutes off their daily commute than the I-25 interchange saving tens of thousands of people 2 minutes.. at least if you live out there.

[Mike Horrell]

Originally Posted by Zoidberg

I disagree with the speed limit reduction theory. I predict interchanges creeping up from the freeway, first at San Pedro, and so on (after perhaps they get a clue about proper light sequencing)..

With regard to their scrapping the Paseo/I-25 project, I'm ready to hear a "yeah, that was a bad idea" from everybody who supported the Paseo Extension to Ventana Ranch, which cost, coincidentally, about the same as Paseo/I-25 was supposed to (the difference being city bonds, which we're still paying on, were a much larger component of the financing for PDNX). People who have been to Ventana Ranch more than once in the past 6 months are exempted from the request.

But hey, far better that a couple hundred leapfrog development residents get to save 2 minutes off their daily commute than the I-25 interchange saving tens of thousands of people 2 minutes.. at least if you live out there.

I had to read that a couple times before I was sure I understood what you were (ahem..)
driving at.

I disagree about the growth of interchanges on east Paseo. I just don't think that's
going to happen. I think that the I-25 Paseo interchange is more delayed than
canceled and that (arguments about sprawl aside) if the Ventana area grows as
expected, the Paseo extension was required. So, in that admittedly narrow context,
the bonds have been worthwhile.

I just don't see Paseo extension and Paseo / I-25 as being contradictory. One has
been done, one remains to be done.