By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

With Canyon Road closed for its construction, traffic has overwhelmed Trinity Drive. Cars crawl while frustrations accelerate. Solutions to the bottlenecks were discussed Tuesday during the Los Alamos County Council meeting.

Council Chair Randall Ryti motioned to direct the County Manager to develop an interim four-lane plan for Trinity Drive that meets the New Mexico Department of Transportation’s (NMDOT) requirements and to further direct the County Manager to develop a plan and implementation for restriping Trinity Drive to four lanes starting immediately after the Canyon Road project is completed.

Ruti’s motion failed to pass 4-2 with just he and Councilor David Reagor voting in favor of the motion. Councilor Keith Lepsch was absent from the meeting.

Ultimately, council favored going with a solution that is being pursued by the Public Works Department, which is to work with the contractor for the Canyon Road project to open one lane of traffic on the road. Council also supported considering changes to Trinity Drive’s configuration but only after a traffic engineering study is completed and the study should occur after the completion of the Canyon Road project.

Public Works Director Juan Rael explained how opening one lane on Canyon Road would work.

There are two crews – one for utilities and another for concrete. These crews work on each end of the street, Rael said. What the County is proposing is to have the crews work on one side as the County paves one lane, which he said would give some relief. The contractor thinks that they might be able to do that, Rael added, which would open Canyon Road earlier – the second or third week of October rather than November. He emphasized that this is not final; it is still being discussed and a change order would need to be made. 

This is not the only option on the table, Rael said.

“We’re also looking at exploring different options, which may relieve the pressure,” he said. “Including looking at some of the signals.”

Specifically, the signals on West Jemez Road, going into Los Alamos National Laboratory and West Road, Rael said. The idea is to work with lab, which owns West Jemez Road, and see if there is a way to stagger the amount or release of cars through those two intersections to try and coincide with the left turn movement onto Trinity from Diamond.

This is something completely out of the box, he said.

“What we’re seeing is that once traffic is getting into the street onto Trinity it’s moving,” Rael said. “It’s the pinch points really … the merge point at Trinity and Diamond and what comes off the bridge … and then going westbound past Oppenheimer. This would help really in the PM with the amount of cars coming out of LANL, past the bridge and try to merge in the left turn.”

He added that the contractor was approached about hiring more crews and working extended hours, but the contractor is unable to do that due to the shortage of employees.

At Ryti’s request, Public Works did explore with NMDOT the possibility of altering the two-lane configuration on the current road diet on Trinity Drive. Rael said Ryti suggested having a two-lane directional westbound in the morning and a two-lane directional in the eastbound in the evening, but the conversation was a nonstarter with NMDOT. He explained NMDOT has safety concerns regarding the amount of left turns in the area and the potential for head-on collisions.

“They weren’t even interested in discussing that any further,” he said.

Ryti wondered about the possibility of reconfiguring Trinity Drive temporarily for the duration of the Canyon Road project. Essentially, it would be turned into a work zone, he said.

Rael said that he hadn’t been able to speak to NMDOT about that but there would be challenges. First, he said, NMDOT would need to give approval since it owns Trinity Drive. Then, a contractor would need to be hired that specializes in traffic controls and a plan submitted to the state and a permit acquired. Additionally, Rael said some road closures would need to happen and there are other issues to address such as removing bike lanes, the fact that cars typically go slower through a work zone and the traffic control devices would need to be maintained.

When asked about the process for restriping Trinity into four lanes, Rael said the County would need to get a resolution to remove the road diet, obtain an engineer plan for returning the street into four lanes, solicit quotes and develop a contract. The work would then need to be scheduled and the contractor would need a traffic control plan approved by the state. Finally, work would begin with removing the lines and drawing new ones.

Councilor Melanee Hand asked Rael what option he preferred.

“My conclusion is that I think since we are in a temporary condition (and) it is functioning – I think we all agree that it’s not functioning as good as we would like it to be – but I think with the fact that we do have a light at the end of tunnel, which is the completion of Canyon Road … keeping it (Trinity Drive) in its existing configuration would be … my recommendation, if I had one.”

Hand asked if keeping one lane open on Canyon Road has merit and Rael said yes; he said he felt it would be the best short-term solution.

Rael also updated council on the work being done on Canyon Road as well as the efforts underway to deal with the traffic issues on Trinity.

He explained that the project needed to be rebid, which is why the work started later than desired. Rael said the project is complex due to eight utility crossings and that crews are replacing concrete on both sides and adding new storm drainage.

The good news, he said, is that the project is on schedule and the road should be completely done in November.

As far as the traffic impacts from the project, Rael listed the things the County has done:

• Monitored and made real time adjustments to traffic signals;
• Added signage to not block the intersection and instructed LANL traffic to keep right;
• Continue to coordinate with Los Alamos Public Schools;
• Erected an electronic message board at Diamond and Sycamore area;
• Launched a public outreach campaign to encourage alternative means of transportation; and
• Worked with Los Alamos Police Department to station an officer on the Diamond Drive corridor “that has helped in a couple of different ways most notably in the cars through the intersection – that has really cut down in the officer’s presence,” Rael said.