Courtesy/Los Alamos County

Option 1 for the N.M. 502 design option project received the green light from county council in a 6-1 vote with Councilor Vincent Chiravalle casting the sole no vote.

County Engineering Manager Kyle Zimmerman created the Option 1 compromise solution by blending the best of five possible options under consideration.

Zimmerman’s option as illustrated in the photo above, comprises one roundabout at 4th Street and Central Avenue and a single lane road in each direction with widened medians at the intersections of Airport Road and Tewa Loop designed for a travel speed of 35 miles per hour.

Option 1 also includes a center median for landscaping west of Tewa Loop with left turn bays and pedestrian refuge. Up to two hybrid pedestrian beacons will be installed between the Tewa Loop and Canyon Road intersections. The Canyon Road intersections will be reconfigured to increase deflection to reduce vehicle speeds.

Between Canyon Road and Central Avenue or where determined necessary by the New Mexico Department of Transportation, two east bound lanes from Central Avenue will merge to one east bound lane. The center medium will continue along with one west bound lane. The Central Avenue and 4th Street intersections with NM 502 will combine into one intersection controlled by a roundabout.

West of Central Avenue and 4th Street, NM 502 will have two east bound lanes, a center medium and one west bound lane. The DP Road intersection will be reconfigured using existing right-of-way to be more of a 90-degree intersection with NM 502. West of the DP Road intersection, NM 502 will connect to the existing road section of two lanes east bound, a center medium and two lanes west bound.

Sidewalks will be included on both sides of N.M. 502 from Tewa Loop to DP Road.

This option is to be modified to incorporate bicycle lanes or bicycle paths where physically viable and cost effectively feasible to do so in the opinion of NMDOT and Los Alamos County.