RIO RANCHO, N.M. (KRQE) – As Rio Rancho grows, so does its traffic congestion. Thursday night, the city held a meeting, to talk about improving traffic flow along a busy corridor. They discussed how to make it safer for neighbors, bicyclists, and kids walking to school.
“It’s not safe, I mean it’s long overdue,” said Mena, a Rio Rancho resident.
It’s a road many residents say is dangerous for both drivers and pedestrians. Loma Colorado Boulevard runs between Northern Boulevard and Paseo Del Volcan in Rio Rancho. With a middle school nearby, the road has become an area of concern, due to its lack of sidewalks and bike lanes.
“Since my son is only in middle school still and he has to walk every day because we’re so close to the school, that it would be nice to have the sidewalks for him,” said Kacie Lipton, Rio Rancho resident.
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“We’re always driving down there, and you’ve got people running on the side of the road and there’s no place for them to run, bike, and it’s very dangerous,” said Mena.
Thursday, the city of Rio Rancho held a public meeting to present recommended designs that would address some of these concerns. The proposal suggests improvements such as widening parts of the road to four lanes, adding sidewalks, bike lanes, and even trails for pedestrians.
“I’m sure users of the corridor note the congestion from the drop-off and pick-up times, so we really wanted to take a look at this area to have the traffic flow better,” said Ed Potthoff, Project Manager at HDR Engineering.
The city would also add new water infrastructure to create better storm drainage. Other improvements include paving the dirt road from Montezuma Boulevard and creating a connection all the way up to Paseo Del Volcan. Residents say that would create access to Cleveland High School.
“It gets congested going to the high school, so it gives people ways to get there, instead of overcrowding in one place,” said Mena.
The city says they are still waiting on funding before construction can begin. The total cost is estimated to be 22 million dollars.
