Opinion

Letter To The Editor: Petition To Nix New Roundabout

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By Joel M. Williams
Los Alamos

Citizens, bikers, and pedestrians, ever wonder how 269 vehicles per hour (>4 per minute), waiting at the stop-sign on Central at N.M. 502, can currently enter the line of vehicles going pass them on N.M. 502 e-bound at the rate of 917 vehicles per hour (>1 vehicle every 4 sec) while vehicles just in front of them are going in the opposite direction at 148 vehicles per hour (>1 vehicle every 30 sec)?

Not easy for them, but they do it, as collected data demonstrate. What these folks need is “some help” in the merging without making things unsafe for Read More

Letter To The Editor: Correct Information Regarding Barranca Elementary School Pre-design Planning

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By JOAN AHLERS, Chief Operations Officer
Los Alamos Public Schools

Barranca Principal Gina Terrazas and the Steering Committee would like to correct some misinformation that was published in a Letter to the Editor from “Concerned Residents of Barranca Mesa” regarding the Barranca Elementary School pre-design planning.

School construction begins with a process called Educational Specifications (Ed Specs). This process looks at the programmatic functions of a school. During this process every single staff member is interviewed, from principal to custodian, then a Steering Committee Read More

Letter To The Editor: Drivers And Walkers Awake

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By WILLIAM C. MEAD
Los Alamos

Drivers and Walkers Awake … Or else, the planned roundabout at the intersection of Trinity and Central will force drivers to travel in conflicting “circular” paths (or find another route) and pedestrians will be negotiating for their lives and limbs with vehicles intent on making it through the roundabout (or stay away).

The N.M. 502 improvement project plans now call for the installation of a two-lane, 25 mph roundabout at the intersection of Trinity and Central. Construction is scheduled to begin in the Spring of 2017 at a total project cost estimated to be $7.1 Read More

Letter To The Editor: Attendance Urged For Community Meeting On Barranca Mesa School Construction

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By Concerned Residents of Barranca Mesa

We would like to encourage Barranca Mesa residents to attend the upcoming Public Input on the New School Construction meeting at 5 p.m., March 22 at the Barranca Elementary School gymnasium.

One of the proposed options for rebuilding the school calls for reversing the current school entrance 180 degrees and creating a south-facing school entry. If this plan passes, there will be two additional school entrance/exits added to Barranca Mesa Road, and placed between the two Loma del Escolar (the C-shaped street, which borders the school to the north) and Read More

Letter To The Editor: Public Goodbye To Karen Young

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Williams: Numbers Don’t Lie – What Do They Tell Us About Proposed Central-N.M. 502 Roundabout?

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Image by Joel M. Williams

 
By JOEL M. WILLIAMS
Los Alamos

Several days ago, I showed what the simple roundabout at Central-N.M. 502 proposed by Los Alamos County Public Works and selected by Los Alamos County Council in 2012 has “morphed” into … a land-gobbling mammoth. It seems appropriate now to envision how this roundabout will operate.

In order to do this, we need some numbers. Together in the accompanying figure are the current intersection, the roadway of the proposed roundabout and a table of traffic flow numbers during peak hours (morning, noon, and evening), Read More

Letter To The Editor: We’d Love Your Candid Feedback

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By TIM LANGWORTHY
Los Alamos Library Board

Do you ever go to the Mesa Public Library or to our beautiful new branch library in White Rock?

What do you most appreciate about your visits? Can you suggest ways we could serve you better?

We’d love to get candid feedback from you. Please just take a few minutes to complete the “Library Planning Survey” available at by clicking here. The survey will only be available for a few weeks, through March 30.

The other members of the Library Board and I will carefully consider your input and use it as we draft the strategic plan that will guide the library’s evolution Read More

Letter To The Editor: Ensure Pedestrian Safety Before Building N.M. 502 Roundabout

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By MELISSA OENNING
Los Alamos

One thing I see missing from the pedestrian safety discussion about the roundabout proposed for N.M. 502 at Trinity and Central is any mention of the current pedestrian situation in that area.

The current situation is incredibly unsafe for all pedestrians who attempt to use the south side of N.M. 502 and access to the north side of N.M. 502 is so inconvenient and unsafe as to be unusable. 

For example, in order for anyone living in the area off Arroyo Lane to get to the nearest marked crosswalk in order to cross N.M. 502 they only have the following options, none of Read More

Chandler: Participate In Comp Plan Process – It’s Critical

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By CHRIS CHANDLER
Los Alamos County Council Candidate

In the last couple of years, I have had direct personal experiences with proposed changes to our pleasant single family neighborhood. The first involved a housing development that would have increased the allowed density by 100 percent, directly across the street from us. The changed zoning would also have allowed the buildings to be over 40 percent higher. These changes would have completely altered the character of our neighborhood.

The proposal was encouraged – actually promoted – by the Community Development Department, Read More

Letter To The Editor: N.M. 502 Roundabout

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By CHRISTINE WEAVER
Los Alamos
 
I’d like to thank Mr. Williams for his diagram of the proposed 502 roundabout at the Junction of Trinity and Central. My only thought is (in the words of a friend of mine) “What a Charlie Foxtrot.”
 
I can’t even imagine a pedestrian trying to cross the road at any spot on that mess. Nor can I imagine what bicyclists will do. My own preference will be to take off onto Canyon before ever hitting the roundabout and making my way into town by some other means. I doubt that will endear me and other like-minded citizens
Read More