DAVID NORTH
Chair
Los Alamos County Transportation Board

There was no Transportation Board meeting this month, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any news.

First something good: bids for the work at the intersection of State Road 4 and the Truck Route came in a bit high, but NMDOT found the funds anyway. So that project is definitely a go. The schedule is not yet known, and won’t be for at least two months. So we shouldn’t expect work to start in earnest this year, but don’t take that to the bank.

More good news — though the Canyon Road work started a bit late, there’s still a good chance it will be completed on time. There will be some slowdowns on the road at times, and it might be a good idea to consider using Trinity/Diamond as an alternative.

Despite some overflow into yards from the unusually heavy rain, causing considerable inconvenience to parts of the Cumbres Del Norte neighborhood, there should not be an overall delay to the project. However, the contractor has encountered a water line in an unexpected place that will probably push back the finishing date a little. How much is not yet known, but not a lot.

Now some not-so-good news. Some emergency repairs were necessary on 33/34th Streets in the area we were hoping to upgrade this year. However, because all the contractors everywhere are booked solid, no bid was submitted and the work could not be done. This is an excellent example of why we try to stay ahead of needed upkeep, and perhaps we should try harder.

By now, most people in White Rock have noticed that the work on Sherwood between Aztec and Grand Canyon did not get finished during June. Mostly this was due to finding more basalt than was expected. Consequently that stage of the project is not expected to be completed until about August 15th. This will of course delay the second and third phases accordingly. When we have a better idea what’s going on we’ll pass that along.

There is considerable discussion about the various proposed bicycle trails, particularly the skills park and competition track. Issues include the locations and effects on the environment. Anyone using the trails in Pueblo or Acid Canyons is encouraged to take a look at the various letters and articles. The presentation to the Transportation Board is probably a bit too out of date to be useful but is part of the record from our March 3 meeting of this year.

Among other things, next month we’ll review the placement of conduit for broadband as part of these maintenance projects, and at least try to take a look at state road lighting codes.

As always, meeting agendas and schedules can be found at:
https://losalamos.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
Make sure to check the “Search” line just above the listings if things look strange; your browser can save an old search make the whole page look goofy.

You can email the board at: lacpw@lacnm.us
Or email directly to the chair (me) at: dave.north@lactrans.us