BikeABQ’s Bike To Work Day Event Schedule:

The Albuquerque Metro Area Bike to Work Day event is designed to give commuters both information and incentive to use a bicycle or take other alternative transportation to get to work.  At each stop bicycle commuters can enjoy a free breakfast from General Mills, Starbucks Coffee and Albuquerque Public Schools .  In addition, reflective leg bands, patch kits and t-shirts will be given away while supplies last.

This year, BikeABQ is teaming up with UNM Civil Engineering to conduct a Bicycle Travel Survey to evaluate what influences people to travel by bicycle and how they choose their routes.

Please check back for additional food stops!

Albuquerque Area Breakfast Stops  6:30AM-8:30AM:

• Downtown: Civic Plaza Northwest corner off Marquette
• Uptown: Uptown Transit Center (near America’s Parkway & Indian School)
• Heights: Erna Fergusson Library next to Paseo del Nordeste Trail near San Mateo
• Westside: Park northwest of Montaño and Winterhaven
• Journal Center/Los Ranchos: North Diversion Trail and NM Rail Runner Journal Center/Los Ranchos Station (Edith & El Pueblo)
• Journal Center/I-25: Doc & Eddy’s on Eastside of new bridge over I-25
• Bosque Trail: Eastside of Gail Ryba bridge over Rio Grande River

BikeABQ meets each month to discuss bike issues and events in and around Albuquerque.

Learn about the latest bike projects, fun events, and ways you can help expand and improve bike facilities in our community.

This month’s agenda includes, but is not limited to:
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Reports
Upcoming Events – Bike Swap, Bike To Work Day
& More

The meeting begins at 6:30 pm and usually ends before 8:00pm.
Thanks for your continued involvement – we’re looking forward to seeing you!

Meeting Location: Trek Superstore 5000 Menaul Boulevard Northeast Albuquerque, NM 87110

Pending confirmation of schedule, the Embudo Channel Bike Trail near Carlisle and Indian School will be closed from Friday, March 22, 2013 through Wednesday, March 27, 2013 so that a subcontractor, Bogan Brothers, can rehabilitate the sanitary sewer manhole located in the trail. A detour for the closure is attached. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience. Any questions or concerns can be directed to:

Patti Watson, 245-3134; 269-9691 or pattiw@cooneywatson.com;

Doug Stine, 245-3138; 803-4132 or dougs@cooneywatson.com;

Servando Medina, 362-7314; or

Russell Shoats, 362-2544.

This work is part of the Albuquerque Bernalillo County’s Small Diameter Water and Sewer Rehabilitation Project, which identifies and prioritizes old water and sewer lines serving neighborhoods throughout Albuquerque that need upgrades to continue to provide reliable service and maintain the structural integrity of the water and sewer systems. Sewer lines are cleaned (if needed) and reinforced or replaced and manholes are reconstructed (if needed) in these areas.

Detour Map

The contractor is currently working on the section south of Rio Bravo. For details on closures and detours, so we are suggesting people use www.bernco.gov/bosquetrail for information. Jeanne Wolfenbarger is the project engineer and her contact information is on the webpage.

We are encouraging trail users to respect the closures as these sections of trail have limited workspace/access and users will not be able to pass the construction areas. Our goal is to get the word out to as many users as possible, so please share this information with any other groups or users that will be impacted by the closures.

Mayor Richard Berry wants to know what the public thinks of these and similar ideas. They’re part of an initiative he calls “ABQ: The Plan,” an effort to shift more money into capital projects aimed at triggering private investment.

The city and its consultants sponsored a series of public meetings on the concepts last year, but they want more people to weigh in, especially on the latest ideas.

Information and surveys are available at abqtheplan.cabq.gov.

“This can’t be the mayor’s plan. This has to be Albuquerque’s plan,” Berry told the Journal in a meeting last week.

The latest effort focuses on three basic concepts: improvements along the Rio Grande, a 50-mile loop in the city for cyclists and joggers and revitalization of the old Route 66, from roughly Tramway to western Bernalillo County.

The plan mentions about $36 million worth of ideas, although Berry isn’t seeking funding just yet. The projects could be done in pieces over many years, and some of the money could come from other government agencies, not just Albuquerque.

“This is a multi-decade vision,” the mayor said.

Still, Berry has made it a priority in recent budgets to shift some of the city’s operating money back into big capital projects – reversing a trend from before he took office, when City Hall often took revenue earmarked for capital and used it to prop up the basic operating budget instead.

Moving some of the money back is how the city was able to contribute $50 million to the reconstruction of the Paseo del Norte and Interstate 25 interchange, for example.
Vision for the Rio Grande

The city’s goal is to make the river a bigger part of residents’ day-to-day lives. That could include the building of boardwalks, parks, new signs, boat ramps and better crossings for pedestrians and cyclists.

New projects would complement what’s already there, including the Albuquerque Biological Park or the existing river crossings.

City consultants have come up with a map that shows where some projects might go in a 19-mile corridor along the river. No private development or heated structures would be allowed inside the river levees.

“We couldn’t find a city of this size that has so much wild and natural area embedded in the urban fabric,” said Mimi Burns of Dekker/Perich/Sabatini, which was hired to work on design of the project. “It’s an amazing thing – the contrast of urban landscape and this amazing natural river in the middle of Albuquerque.”

Rio Grande Valley State Park is one of the 25 largest urban parks in the United States.

Berry said bringing more people to the river should help protect it. The goal, he said, is getting “more people to fall in love” with its natural beauty.

The cost estimate is $15 million if everything were built.
Fifty-mile loop

The idea is to fill gaps in the city’s already-built network of trails, sidewalks and bicycle lanes. They would be connected into a 50-mile loop.

In some cases, the city might need to widen the trails to ensure cyclists and pedestrians can co-exist safely.

Berry envisions people cycling at their own pace. Some might want to travel the whole thing. Others might want to stay at a boutique hotel, then bike to a bed and breakfast for the next night, he said.

There could be rest stops, bike-rental stations and information kiosks along the way. Some areas might need more landscaping and improvements to make the trails more visible.

“It’s a multi-use loop,” said Savina Garcia of Wilson & Co., which is working on the project. “What we’re trying to focus on is getting city of Albuquerque folks and tourists to really realize the benefits of utilizing these trail systems. … We’re tying to make this a little more visible and more open so people know how to get to it.”

The cost estimate is $20 million if everything were built.

About 150 people participated in meetings last year.
Read More— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal

View More: http://abqtheplan.cabq.gov/

Picture this: You’re riding down the bike path away from the frenzied traffic and enjoying the great outdoors. But this isn’t a recreational ride. You’re conducting everyday business…crossing errands off your list, doing many of the things you’ve traditionally done in your car…on your bike.

Along the trail you stop in at a farm shop, buy vegetables and jam and put them in one of your three baskets. Further down the path, you buy candy and flowers from a path-side vendor. Up ahead there’s a book store and a bike shop. And, fortunately, there’s an ATM. you can get the cash you need to meet friends at that great coffee shop for bikes only.

The idea is simple – Bike In Zoning is exclusively dedicated to bicycle and pedestrian customers.

There is virtually no end to the private enterprise possibilities designed to serve bike traffic only. And It’s not a dream for the future. With innovative Bike In Zoning, it can happen now, on private property along existing trails.

The city of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County should be commended for their investment in and their enthusiastic support for the bicycle community. And with their plans for expanding the existing bike network, Bike In Zoning will only enhance the vision with private participation.

Bike In Zoning comes at no expense to the city or county. It involves no public property and, best of all, it involves no vehicle traffic for neighborhoods to worry about.

Let the zoning happen and watch Albuquerque’s entrepreneurial energy take over.

Let the zoning happen and watch Albuquerque and Bernalillo County become the models for bicycle use across the country.

Let’s support the business end of cycling.

Click here to support Bike In Zoning by signing the petition.

The change is only for this meeting month.
Come join us and participate in bicycle advocacy in Albuquerque and the surrounding communities!
BikeABQ meets each month to discuss bike issues and events in and around Albuquerque.
Learn about the latest bike projects, fun events, and ways you can help expand and improve bike facilities in our community.

This month’s agenda includes, but is not limited to:

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• Reports
• Upcoming Events
• Grants
• LAB – Bicycle Friendly Program Plan
• Employee Contract
• Introduction and Partnership with the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department Bike Unit

The meeting begins at 6:30 pm and usually ends before 8:00pm.
Thanks for your continued involvement – we’re looking forward to seeing you!
Meeting Location: Trek Superstore 5000 Menaul Boulevard Northeast Albuquerque, NM 87110