Cyclists pressure NM officials for safer streets

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN
Associated Press Writer

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) — Concerned bicyclists say their safety is being forgotten as New Mexico plans new highways and maintains thousands of miles of existing traffic lanes.
It’s a concern that’s cropping up across the nation as more people demand alternative ways to get to work, school and the corner store to avoid high gasoline prices and cut emissions.

With billions of dollars being spent each year on transportation projects nationwide, cyclists are pressuring politicians to adopt “complete streets” policies that ease dangers and accommodate all modes of transportation.

“We have a long history in this country of building a lot of really great roads for automobiles, and now I think we’re at a point where everybody would like to see more multi-modal transportation networks that really provide for everyone,” said Barbara McCann, executive director of the National Complete Streets Coalition in Washington, D.C.

The Bicycle Coalition of New Mexico and other groups have asked Gov. Bill Richardson to change state paving policies and maintain safer shoulders along New Mexico’s roadways.
Coalitions in Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan and Missouri also are pushing transportation officials to make things safer for cyclists.

“Unfortunately, with the way things are, to be a bike commuter you sort of start into it with this attitude of I’m going to do it despite all of these things,” said Neale Pickett, a self-described computer nerd who rides his bike to work at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

Pickett, a licensed cycling instructor, said the lack of facilities creates fear among non-motorized commuters.
“You might have to deal with situations that will require a little more thought or bravado,” he said.

The Complete Streets Coalition has documented the dangers with photographs showing cyclists riding on streets with no room, people dashing across major roads with no crosswalks, and commuters getting off the bus in places where the bus stop is just a pole in the grass.

McCann said there’s a misconception that if states want to have facilities for biking, walking and public transit, they need to come up with some special pot of new money and build a separate system.

“We already are spending billions on transportation, and there is no reason we should be building roadways that turn out to be barriers to these other modes of transportation,” she said.
New Mexico Deputy Transportation Secretary Max Valerio said the cost of projects and competing interests make highway planning difficult.

“It’s a real delicate issue where we have to balance the needs and interests of the motor vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists and transit, and it’s not as easy as one size fits all,” he said.
The department is willing to meet with the bicycle coalition and others to talk about possible solutions, Valerio said.

Pickett considers himself lucky because Los Alamos County has its own comprehensive bike plan, and a small army of construction workers is preparing the main road in Los Alamos for bike lanes that will help lab scientists and others get around town.

New Mexico’s largest cities also have improved their bicycle facilities in recent years, but the state is still ranked near the bottom by the League of American Bicyclists when it comes to being bike-friendly.

Oregon is near the top of that list. In Portland, building a transportation network for things others than cars has been a priority since the 1970s.

“We had the elected leadership who were understanding enough that freeways weren’t some sort of magic cure all to all of our problems,” said Jonathan Maus, who runs the advocacy Web site BikePortland.org.

Maus said most transportation departments are focused on building highways and widening roads for cars.
“It’s difficult for them to start to see the world in a different way that doesn’t include motorized vehicles,” he said.
In New Mexico, cyclists complain that many roads lack shoulders and some have been rendered useless because of paving methods that leave a lip along the shoulder.
One wrong move and a rider could be bucked into traffic, said Jim Harrington, a cyclist who led a push in Santa Fe against the paving practice.

Valerio said the state adds a layer of special paving to roads to prevent vehicles from hydroplaning in wet conditions, and that type of pavement isn’t needed on the shoulders. It would cost an extra $40,000 a mile to add the pavement to an interstate shoulder, he said.

Some of the federal stimulus money is earmarked for projects such as bike lanes, but Valerio said that funding won’t meet all of New Mexico’s needs.

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Bicycle Coalition of New Mexico: http://www.bikenm.org/
National Complete Streets Coalition: http://www.completestreets.org/
League of American Bicyclists: http://www.bikeleague.org/
BikePortland: http://bikeportland.org/
New Mexico Department of Transportation: http://www.nmshtd.state.nm.us/

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