By ELLEN WALTON
White Rock
Recently loads of dirt and gravel mixed with what looks like petroleum were dumped on the sides of the road in Pajarito Acres and La Senda under the guise of shoulder repair. The work was announced Jan. 5, 2018 in the Los Alamos Daily Post (link).
This mixture seen in the photos of the work has done nothing to address the actual crumbling and disappearing asphalt. It has, however, created a very hazardous, slippery, ugly and messy condition for pedestrians, bicycles and animals, which share the roadway with vehicles. The dust created by this mixture is heinous. It looks as if the County has decided to turn our paved roads into dirt ones.
Roads in Pajarito Acres have not seen major repair since the early nineties. I was there. At that time the contractor resurfaced the roads and repaired drainage ditches and culverts, seeding with native grass and wildflowers to hold the earth in place afterwards.
The asphalt needs repairing badly, but the earth on the shoulders remained stable and compacted all those years. We encouraged those wildflowers year after year, creating a beautiful place to be proud of in spite of the lack of attention by our government to maintain the roadway.
Neither State nor County even mowed the sides of the road or cleaned out the weeds in the culverts this summer; tumble weed and trash cover our roadsides and ditches in White Rock and beyond. The dirt fields along State Road 4 left by failed attempts at a housing development atop the basalt now produce weeds by the thousands. It is a mess, and it did not used to be that way.
It looks like we just don’t care.
Infrastructure in White Rock is failing, and this last road “repair” is truly rubbing salt into some very deep wounds. We have seen power poles falling, sparks flying from ancient transformers, and stink being fed into the river by a sewage treatment plant that should have been replaced years ago. This is not “cool”, “green” or “hip”. It is dangerous and shows a poor use of our plentiful public monies.
The cash is there for a swimming pool being built next to another swimming pool alongside the planetarium in the Los Alamos town site. I hope White Rock become more vocal regarding its declining infrastructure as funds continue to be focused on town site recreation projects which do not serve it. Basic services delivered well would be a good starting point for our Government to heal long standing resentments of our second class citizen status in White Rock. Fixing the mess that was just made in Pajarito Acres and La Senda would be a good place to start.
The guise of shoulder repair. Photo by Ellen Walton
Leaning power pole. Photo by Ellen Walton 
Weeds. Photo by Ellen Walton
Weeds. Photo by Ellen Walton
