Construction On Trinity To Expand Accessibility For All

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on July 30, 2026
- 6:29 pm

From left, Los Alamos County Engineer Eric Ulibarri, Public Works Senior Engineer Jennifer Morrow, Los Alamos Daily Post Managing Editor Kirsten Laskey, Department of Public Utilities Project Manager Casey Aumack, Public Works Project Manager Jeremy Lujan and Public Works Project Manager Benjamin Gonzales discuss the road improvement project on Trinity Drive Monday in the Post newsroom. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

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

Big things are happening on Trinity Drive from Knecht Street through Oppenheimer. All the tell-tale signs are there – the orange traffic cones lined up like dominoes, the electric signs with the blinking arrow lights and all the large equipment grinding and roaring at top volume. It can cause a literal and figurative headache for anyone on the road, but Los Alamos County officials emphasize the finished product will be well-worth it.

This project has several pieces. One piece is to turn this section of Trinity Drive from a vehicular-centered thoroughfare to a multi-modal road. To do that, Public Works Senior Engineer Jennifer Morrow said the sidewalks are being reconstructed to be five-foot wide and more ADA compliant.

Furthermore, County Engineer Eric Ulibarri said a hybrid road diet is being implemented, which means one of the westbound lanes will be closed while the two eastbound lanes will be left as is. Plus, he said a rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB), which is a pedestrian flashing crossing light will be erected at 20th Street. This will allow pedestrians to cross Trinity Drive to access either side of 20th Street. He added if the planned development at 20th Street triggers the need for a traffic signal, that infrastructure can be utilized for a traffic signal.

Morrow added, “That real estate we gain from dropping down that one lane will be utilized to have bike lanes on both sides.”

Plus, “we are also adding strategically placed medians … there’s a lot of driveways around there so you can get conflicting traffic – some people call that a suicide lane (or) a two-way turn lane – so the idea is that we are putting in some medians to mitigate some of those safety issues that occur with that free, open middle lane,” she said.

A bus pull-out will be constructed, too, Ulibarri said, just east of the Justice Center. This will be able to accommodate the Park n’ Ride buses.

With the road project underway, Department of Public Utilities (DPU) Project Manager Casey Aumack said DPU seized the opportunity to do some infrastructure improvements.

He explained the infrastructure dates to the 1950s and 60s. Most of it, particularly the water lines are cast iron pipe. Aumack explained that while cast iron’s life span is lengthy, the salt used on the roads for snow and ice can leach away at the cast iron. As a result, the cast iron water lines are being replaced with PVC because “it makes it a lot more resistant; it lasts longer.”

Additionally, Aumack said there are concerns with the gas lines, which are steel. The lines are sleeved with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) but the gas valves are not. So, the old valves will be removed and replaced with HDPE ones.

As far as the electric lines, Aumack said new conduits are being installed. Finally, two or three fire hydrants have been deemed old and outdated so they are being replaced.

The construction project started on July 21 and is expected to go through the end of the calendar year; however, the contractor, Hasse Contracting Co., has asked for a time extension that would extend the project into January 2027. This is due to delays in permits being issued from the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT).

Ulibarri provided some background on this project, which originated in 2016 when NMDOT, which owns Trinity Drive, performed a road safety audit.

“They identified a bunch of stuff that we could do to improve safety along that corridor,” he said. “With that, there’s a whole host of things to improve safety, which included bus pull-outs, bike lanes and medians … and enhance pedestrian crossings and things like that. Following that road safety audit, we received highway safety improvements program funding from NMDOT to start the design and basically start to address all the findings of that road safety audit.”

The highway safety improvements program funding is financing the entire road project, Morrow said. The total cost is approximately $5.4 million. DPU’s infrastructure improvement project is being funded by the County and is approximately $1.2 million.

Ulibarri said this project was deemed necessary because it will benefit so many users on Trinity Drive.

“One of things they (NMDOT) really wanted to (do) was make the road more multi-modal, which means it serves all users and not just traffic,” he said.

Ulibarri explained that the sidewalks are narrow and the ramps don’t meet ADA requirements, so people in wheelchairs would have a difficult time navigating. The bike lanes aren’t there and adding medians will help separate traffic.

Aumack pointed out that with new bike lanes there will be continual bike lanes from Barranca Mesa all the way to Trinity Drive and technically, a bicyclist could go all the way to the Los Alamos Co-op.

Ulibarri agreed; noting that “eventually that crossing at 20th Street will connect the Canyon Rim Trail and the Urban Trail so that’s kind of an important crossing point for us along Trinity Drive. That’s why that pedestrian crossing will definitely enhance safety.”

“A lot of different users were not being served by the roadway in a safe manner, so it is adding a lot of that extra infrastructure to make it a little more safe for everyone,” he added.

One of the reasons for the road diet was when conducting traffic studies “we determined that dual lanes on the eastbound direction are kind of important because of all the businesses on the south side,” Ulibarri said. “That right lane kind of serves as almost a turn lane in a sense for all the businesses so vehicles can get over to the right lane … without impeding the traffic flow that’s going through while in the other direction, the westbound lane, it’s not quite so critical; we don’t have as many businesses on the north side … It also coordinates well with the first segment of the road diet that we did west of Oppenheimer. So, what you see from Oppenheimer to Diamond will be what you see … with this project.”

Making these changes could improve the whole feel of this section of Trinity Drive, Aumack said.

He said after making improvements to Central Avenue, it felt more friendly. The same could be accomplished on Trinity. Right now, Trinity Drive feels like a highway but with the changes, it will be more accessible and safer to walk or ride a bike.

“It just increases the vibrancy and livability of that space … (people won’t be) seeing it as this dangerous thing,” Aumack said. “It’s another part of the community people can integrate into.”

As the project progresses, the public is encouraged to learn about any updates. To do that, residents can sign up to receive project updates. Also, the County’s Construction Cone Zone webpage will also provide regular updates to construction activities.