Albuquerque opens new path and bridge, aims to be more bike-friendly

Bicycle infrastructure growing, though not fast enough for some

Albuquerque wants to be a bike-friendly city and envisions adding to its network of trails in coming years.

With gasoline pushing $3.50 a gallon in Albuquerque, you’d think that there would be traffic jams on city bike paths and that the opening of a major bicycle bridge would be big news.

To the contrary, there are lines at every cheap gas station in town and Mayor Martin Chavez’s ribbon-cutting on the Embudo Trail this week didn't even warrant a mention on the city Web site.

While bicycling advocates say every bit of new bikeway is a good step, it's clear that much work remains for Albuquerque to become the bike-friendly metropolis the mayor has said he envisions.

The new stretch of bike path that Chavez opened Wednesday is actually a key part of the Embudo Trail, a major east-west route between the Northeast Heights and midtown. At a cost approaching $1 million, it runs for less than a mile along the north side of I-40, but includes an arched bridge over the North Diversion Channel and an underpass at Carlisle Boulevard N.E., giving bikers an alternative to braving the traffic on Menaul Boulevard or Indian School Road.

The mayor named the new bridge after James Quinn, an Albuquerque bicyclist killed while riding through Tijeras Canyon last year. The graceful, rust-colored overpass is less than 2 miles from where another experienced cyclist, Roy Sekreta, was hit and killed in March as he crossed Comanche Road.

To experienced bicyclists like Craig Degenhardt, president of the advocacy group BikeABQ, the trail and bridge mark another step in the long effort to make Albuquerque a safer place to ride.

"It's amazing to look back at 1998 and see how much has changed" in the years he's been involved in the politics of bicycling, Degenhardt told the New Mexico Independent. Using a combination of city, county, state and federal funds, the city and other agencies have spent millions of dollars to build or designate bicycle routes, bridges and underpasses, he said.

The work hasn't gone unnoticed. The American League of Bicyclists gives the city a bronze ranking as a Bicycle Friendly Community, and national magazines have consistently ranked the Duke City high for its riding.

The eight bicyclists reported killed on city streets since 2004 notwithstanding, Albuquerque's growing network of bike routes makes it "one of the safest cities in the United States to ride a bike," Degenhardt said, adding that he's ridden in many of them. "Between the bike lanes, the bike trails and the support from APD (Albuquerque Police Department), I have no qualms about riding on any of the streets in Albuquerque."

Granted, he's an experienced cyclist. But the city's 2007 bike trail map is an eye-opener for people who don't ride much. It shows nearly 400 miles of bike routes, in three categories: multipurpose trails that are separate from roadways, such as the Paseo del Bosque Trail; bike lanes, which are striped on the road; and bike routes, where no lane stripe exists but which are deemed suitable for bikes and cars to share.

On closer examination, however, the map looks more like a series of broken lines, because most of the routes are incomplete. That often requires bikers to mix it up in traffic, and while Degenhardt said he's not afraid of riding the streets, others clearly are.

Afraid to ride
Southeast Albuquerque resident Circe Woessner stopped to chat with Degenhardt as he manned the BikeABQ booth at an alternative transportation fair at the VA Hospital recently. She was drawn to the booth, saying she grew up bicycling in Europe, but told Degenhardt she won't bike to work at Kirtland Air Force Base.
"I want to, but I'm afraid to," she said. "I'm a mother and I don't like the idea of 'splatting' somewhere."

When Degenhardt showed her the map of city bike routes, however, Woessner said she was surprised. "I wasn't aware that much has been marked," she said. "That helps me out."
At the same fair, Tony Martinez said he was encouraged by Mayor Chavez's recent proclamation to make Albuquerque more bicycle-friendly, but said he doesn't ride to work because he doesn't think city drivers are careful. If the mayor wants more people to bicycle, Martinez said, the city should educate motorists to be more considerate.

Screw that, said one driver who stopped by the BikeABQ booth. Bikers, not drivers, are the problem, said the man, who identified himself only as Eugene. He wants the mayor and APD to crack down on riders.

"Bicyclists cause the accidents," he said, citing his years as a tow-truck driver as giving him first-hand experience in the matter. Riders routinely ignore stoplights and stop signs, pull in front of cars and ride on the wrong side of the road, he said. "They should ride on the sidewalks."
Degenhardt could hardly contain himself during Eugene's tirade, but acknowledged that not all bicyclists are good drivers. As a trained bicycling safety instructor, his advice to riding safely is to "drive your bike." By that he means ride as if the bike were another vehicle on the road — with traffic, following all the rules and regulations, and 3 feet from the edge of the road. By driving like a slow-moving motorcycle, he said, "It makes you visible and predictable and therefore safe."

In full agreement was Bruce Gronseth, a 20-year veteran of two-wheel commuting who now rides 30 miles a day from his West Side home to the VA Hospital, he said. He's been yelled at and had some close calls with cars, he said, but hit by a car just once.
He agreed with Degenhardt that Albuquerque has come a long way in improving bicycling safety. "It's never enough," he said, "but the city has done a pretty good job."

What's needed now, Gronseth said, is for the city to start filling in the missing sections of bike lane and trail. That's a higher priority for him, he said, than megaprojects such as the proposed $7 million bike/pedestrian bridge over the Rio Grande at I-40.

Funding sources

As part of the Mid-Region Council of Governments, the city has a long-term vision for expanding the bicycle infrastructure. By 2030, the Metropolitan Transportation Plan calls for doubling the bikeway system in the metro area and Rio Rancho, to 764 miles.

The hurdle to completing the work faster, not surprisingly, is funding. The city budget for bike trail improvements has been about $2.5 million a year, according to John Hartmann of the city's Department of Municipal Development. The city contributes the bulk of the money, including about $1 million a year from a quarter-cent gross receipts tax and another $1 million from bond sales. The federal government typically puts in about $500,000 and the state typically adds $50,000 to $100,000, he said.

But none of those sources is predictable, he said, and some could disappear overnight. The city transportation tax expires in 2010 unless voters reapprove it, and the bond packages every other year require voter approval.

And even $2.5 million a year doesn't go far these days, Hartmann said. The recently completed project to widen Jefferson Avenue north of Osuna Road and make room for bike lanes cost $2.6 million.

Other projects are less expensive, such as grading a stretch of gravel road and paving it or painting a white line on the pavement and calling it a bike lane. But for bike commuters, the important projects are the ones that close the gaps between existing trails, and there are many in the works, said Jim Arrowsmith, one of three bicycle facility planners with the city.

Filling the gaps
Work has begun on an underpass at Paseo del Norte, connecting the north and south ends of the Diversion Channel Trail. It should open in July, Arrowsmith said. Next year, design begins on a series of underpasses at Comanche Road, Candelaria Road and Menaul Boulevard, he said, with construction expected around 2011. Design has started on a bridge over I-25 at Bear Arroyo, with construction in the next year or so, he said, providing a crucial link between the far Northeast Heights and the Journal Center area.

"We're always looking for opportunities to fill those gaps," Arrowsmith said.

One big project that launches this year is the Bicycle Boulevard, an attempt to turn about 6 miles of Silver Avenue and Mountain Road into a bike-friendly thoroughfare. Reducing the speed limit to 18 mph should cause cars to slow down or avoid the route altogether; signs and street markings will also help draw drivers' attention to riders.

The boulevard is being designed now and should be unveiled later this summer on Silver east of I-25, from Cedar Street to San Mateo Boulevard. The portion of Silver Avenue west of I-25, from Second to 14th streets, will be added shortly thereafter, and then the boulevard transitions into Mountain Road and runs all the way to the Bosque Trail. The gap from I-25 to the railroad tracks will be one of those expensive projects left for the future, Arrowsmith said.

In the meantime, "We'll see how it operates," he said of the new bike route. If it appears that bikers need more protection yet, he said, the city can ratchet up the controls, even if that means diverting car traffic off the boulevard.
In at least that one stretch of Albuquerque, Arrowsmith said, "Cars are going to have to get used to giving bikes the right of way."

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