Unsafe roads, parking crisis in Corrales prompt discussion

CORRALES — The concern about safety in Corrales is multifaceted, but the main concerns aired Feb. 10 had to do with pedestrians.

It started with the administrator's report, which included an update on the village's work with the New Mexico Department of Transportation to find solutions for Corrales Road, which has been deemed dangerous. 

Student safety

The priority right now is to make sure kids have safe passage to school in the village.

"When I first talked with the DOT, we talked about the possibility of a walking school bus program. We've talked about some walk and roll events, and this conversation that I had originally took place back in October, and national walk and roll day is in October, and so I had reached out to the school to try and see if we could get something kind of low-key going. But it was just too close to the event," Administrator Melanie Romero said.

She suggested reaching out to the local Parent Teacher Association at this point because "without the support of (Albuquerque Public Schools), it's going to be really hard to get a safe routes to school program going again," she said.

Village Attorney Ken Tager suggested putting money toward the program.

Another idea that Romero shared was a pathway that went from the administration parking lot to the school via the interior drain property. The potential project requires cooperation from the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, however.

Councilor Zach Burkett commented on the irony that Corrales has so many pathways, access roads and trails in the village but can't find a designated safe route for children's travel to and from school.

"The gentleman from the bike committee came up and said, 'It's not safe for kids to ride down Corrales Road.' I agree 100%," he said.

He noted that there is no alternative route from Corrales Road except for the MRGCD property.

"The conversation with e-bikes is coming up with adults and kids. And all things need to be discussed because I think we all want to see the kids out enjoying everything the village has to offer," he said.

Romero has scheduled a meeting between Mayor Fred Hashimoto and the MRGCD, she said.

Councilor Mel Knight asked about the ditch alongside the MRGCD property.

"We have a joint powers agreement and what that joint powers agreement basically gives us is the right to now maintain the drain. The property is owned by the Interior Department at the federal level. MRGCD manages it for them. We maintain it for MRGCD. But part of that JPA is that any improvements we make still has to have MRGCD approval, so anything we do we have to go to them and say, 'Hey, this is what we want to do,'" Romero said.

Romero shared there would be a meting with the DOT to address Corrales Road speed limits, possible stop signs and lighted crosswalks.

Councilor Stuart Murray asked about crosswalks specifically for the students and inquired about APS's rule that students can walk if they live a mile or less away. Romero confirmed that rule still exists.

She said APS is focusing on safety.

"The number of years that the Metro area has been No. 1 in pedestrian deaths has really caught their attention," she said.

Public comment

The public comment section of the village council meeting was almost all about no-parking areas in the village and safety for pedestrians in general.

Rick Thaler, who was part of a committee to put a park on the interior drain, said it was their mission to preserve the interior drain as it is with the goal of reducing vehicle traffic, providing a safe passage for kids to get to school, improving wildlife habitat and fire safety, and assuring residents of access to their homes.

"And no more. We don't want a big fancy urban park. We want the drain to be the way it is in perpetuity, and if we don't take responsibility by creating something lasting and useful out of its property, someone else will give us something there that we really don't want, and so I urge you to restart the process and get the interior drain project back on track," he said.

Bob Eichorst recalled that it was brought up in a previous meeting that the village should take over Corrales Road to address the safety issues.

"That's the last thing we need to do. It's not a legal highway for the state to continue, and they know that. That's why they will give it to us in a heartbeat. But that gives us the liability. We don't want that highway. They'll pave it for free one time. We don't want that highway. We don't know what any administration will do at any time to that highway if the village takes over control," he said.

He also talked about keeping cyclists off Corrales Road, agreeing that it's too dangerous.

"In the early '70s, I witnessed a 10-year-old girl get run over down right next to the Montessori School. I was the only witness that saw it. They went 4 feet off the highway, hit a little girl, and kept going. If we separate (pedestrians) 4feet off the road, it won't be enough," he said.

"Corrales Road is not a safe place for any kids. My kids were so upset with me. My daughter was the same age as that little girl got run over at that time. Never let them ride on Corrales Road. Sorry, man. Sometimes you got to be a hard ass."

He brought up the Peewee program and how he would like to get the kids away from Corrales Road because currently the evacuation route is Corrales Road via a crosswalk there.

"It's a dangerous crosswalk. I've almost gotten hit there many, many times directing traffic at Harvest Festival," he said.

Other people in public comment brought up close calls that could have been worse for people. 

One woman, Teresa Lopez, questioned how safe Corrales is now. She brought up an incident where her neighbor was tackled by homeland security outside his house.

No parking zones

Several residents complained that their streets are often parked on and demanded an answer to the problem. 

Councilors discussed possible solutions. Burkett's main question was how the village is supposed to distinguish residential roads from commercial ones. He said there are homes on every street in Corrales, even Corrales Road.

Knight made the point that there is some burden on the village to make sure there are parking lots available and that those lots should also be identified as parking for public use.

They also discussed how parking could be enforced. Corrales Police Chief Victor Mangiacapra said that unless there is a sign, people generally just don't know where they are allowed to park.

"Right now, there is no ordinance just for parking in the right-of-way because if you're off the pavement, then you're pretty clean. When we do get complaints, like East Meadowlark, last summer or the summer before, people at a local business parked on the lawn in front of people's homes in the right-of-way and of itself, wasn't a violation. If they were partially blocking somebody's driveway, then they were in violation, of course. If they were on the payment obstructing traffic, then there are violations," he said.

But, he said, they give people the opportunity to comply voluntarily, especially when it's not clear if they can or can't park somewhere. There are also scenarios where businesses can get sanctioned for violations.

They talked about placing no-parking signs at the administrator's discretion based on the number of violations, complaints or incidents a location gets.

After the discussion, the council voted that the proposed ordinance needed some changes before the council discusses it again. Councilor Rick Miera made a motion to add a sentence that specifies there will be no parking in public right-of-way areas.

Planning and Zoning Administrator Laurie Stout stated there is an "inherent conflict between residential interests and commercial interests."

"I would say parking was the single most irksome thing to certain citizens who couldn't get out of their driveway or just couldn't even get down the road, so we've been talking about this and hearing about it and Planning and Zoning for years. Planning and Zoning came up with, 'Well, there's gotta be some kind of signage'," she said.

She said the two main concerns were the signs and enforcement.