BY MICHAEL DOLEJSI
Vice Chair
Los Alamos County Transportation Board
Recent Transportation Board meetings have included presentations on current and upcoming road improvement projects, bicycling use discussion, and information on electrical vehicle possibilities for the future of the County.
Construction on 33rd and 34th Streets is currently underway. The street improvement project is a joint effort to upgrade water and sewer infrastructure as well as replace roadway asphalt and improve walkways. By combining these efforts the overall cost is reduced and interruption to residents will be minimized. Work directly in front of the school will be performed during the summer break to minimize impact to Aspen Elementary School.
Upcoming improvement projects include Urban Trail Phase I & II, Rose Street, and Loma Linda. These projects have been presented at recent Transportation Board meetings, and all three projects are going out for bid soon with planned construction starting in Fall of 2023. Public comments for the La Loma improvement project are requested by Wednesday, June 7.
Road condition and construction updates along with other information are available on the County Cone Zone report, and you can check real-time road conditions with the traffic cameras available at MyDrive (https://www.losalamosnm.us/government/departments/public_works/my_drive).
The board created a Bicycle Working Group to address bicycle safety infrastructure and amenities in Los Alamos. The working group has been meeting regularly and has completed primary and secondary bicycle route maps. Recommendations to the Transportation Board on improvements to County infrastructure to facilitate safer and more accessible bicycling will be presented in the fall.
A presentation on Autonomous Electric Vehicles showed a potential option to consider for increasing route service or improving short distance transit options. The Transportation Board voted to have County staff evaluate a pilot program for autonomous vehicles to present to the board for future consideration.
Any County transportation concerns can be sent to the board at tb@lacnm.us, and you are invited to join the Transportation Board at the Council Chambers or virtually for the July 6th meeting at 5:30 PM (link will be available at https://losalamos.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx three days before the meeting). There are also current openings on the board, and if you are interested you can apply at https://www.losalamosnm.us/government/boards___commissions.