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Nobhill Frogger On Central

Nobhill is still missing a crosswalk and traffic light at Morningside & Central. The video below illustrates the problem. I don't doubt there are other intersections needing attention.

In March of 2010 The Albuquerque City Council approved the implementation and construction of two pedestrian control crossings on Central Ave, one at Central Avenue at Wellesley ( NobHill ) and Morningside and Central Avenue ( NobHill - East ). The Wellesley crossing was completed quickly, the Morningside crossing has yet to be implemented ( nor the lighting between Carlisle and Morningside completed ) nearly one year later.

There has been a strong arguement about lack safety for pedestrians in the area between Carlisle and Washington Street, Washington being the next nearest controlled crossing. Why has the crosswalk and the lighting NOT been completed at Morningside?

Councilor Garduño had a hand in the intial approval, there is a DFC Blog at Johnny Mango's back in 2009. Councilor Garduño in June indicated some action would be taken soon and the reason for the delay was "Traffic Engineering" not able to design the interstection.

The video resulted from not being able to cross at Morningside safely around 4:00 PM Saturday January 22, 2011. If you were disabled to any extent your chances of "Frogging" safely to the narrow divider in the middle of Central are minimal to none.

If this affects you negatively please contact Councilor Garduño and Mayor Berry; register a complaint with 311.

Councilor Rey Garduño: reygarduno@cabq.gov Policy Analyst Julian Moya: julianmoya@cabq.gov
Telephone: (505) 768-3152
Richard J. Berry
Mayor
(505) 768-3000
mayorberry@cabq.gov

Banner Photo Credits:
Australian Red-eyed Tree Frog

Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)

LiquidGhoul & Muhammad Mahdi Karim

Australian Green Tree Frog

Public Domain

Crosswalk in Burnaby British Columbia Canada

Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Flying Penguin

Tags: crosswalk, light, missing, nobhill, traffic

0 members like this

Comment by Greg on January 25, 2011 at 10:09pm: If the lighting you are referring to is the pedestrian lighting which has been installed from Morningside to Washington (the white poles in your picture), it is slated to be installed in late spring and summer 2011 and will run from Morningside to Girard. In the same project some sidewalks will be improved to meet ADA requirements.

I don't know the status of the traffic signal.

Comment by Julian on January 26, 2011 at 11:35am: The traffic light at Morningside and Central should be installed and operational by this spring, possibly March. It's an odd intersection so the Department of Municipal Development had to do design work and order materials for the installation, which has led to the delay.

Comment by PJH on January 26, 2011 at 6:22pm: Traffic should really be calmed, i.e., slowed down all along Central in the Nob Hill area. It's Albuquerque's premier pedestrian area, after all. I live in the Old Town area and hate crossing Rio Grande at Central because of the tremendous amount of fast, loud traffic. It's unnerving and feels unsafe. I think people who disregard pedestrians should be sentenced to crossing key intersections in this city on foot, so they can experience firsthand how it feels.

Comment by Not A PC Kinda Guy on January 27, 2011 at 1:34pm: PJH, I have similar sentiments about drivers disregard for pedestrians in or out of crosswalks. Greg and Julian, are either or both of you part of the Administration? I would appreciate your source of information. I'm not disputing what you are saying. Having some "official" word from The City ( Administration or Council ) would be reassuring. I know when I spoke with Councilor Garduño back in June 2010 he could not understand why it was taking Traffic Engineering so long and thought it would be September 2010 when the work would be completed. So far he seems to be silent on the issue.

Comment by Julian on January 27, 2011 at 2:18pm: My name is Julian Moya, who you name in your post. I'm the staff person for City Councilor Rey Garduño. My information comes from the City's Department of Municipal Development, which is the department that Traffic Engineering belongs to. Councilor Garduño understands your concerns and is as anxious as anyone to have the light installed. The Wellesely light was put in much faster because the intersection is more of a standard intersection and they were able to use equipment they had in stock and use city employees to install it. The Morningside intersection is not standard and design work needed to be done before the installation could occur. The City contracted to have the design work and had to special order equipment for it, which had led to the delay. We expect the installation this spring. I hope this information helps, let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Comment by Greg on January 27, 2011 at 11:11pm: I went to a public meeting on December 15th, the "Public Involvement Meeting about Central Avenue Pedestrian Improvements and Street Lighting Phase 2." The meeting itself was just poster boards showing specifically where the lights would go and the sidewalks improved, with a couple people to answer questions about the project. One was from the contractor doing the work, and the other was Jim Hamel, City of Albuquerque, Department of Municipal Development. I talked mostly to Mr. Hamel and he told me about the schedule. I am not part of the city administration. I am on the board of directors of the Nob Hill Neighborhood Association, but that didn't have any role in the information meeting - anyone could show up and ask questions.

Let me just add that while I would have liked the pedestrian lighting and Morningside light installed sooner, I think the city has been responsive to many of the requests from my neighborhood. The reality is that things can get held up for a variety of legitimate reasons and I think that is what happened here.

Comment by Not A PC Kinda Guy on January 28, 2011 at 11:39am: I appreciate the feedback about the situation.

Comment by Not A PC Kinda Guy on March 2, 2011 at 6:42am: We are happy to see The City has started construction of the crosswalk and traffic light in question. We appreciate the citizen participation in helping move this project ahead.

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