Mr. Joel Williams has done a great service for the Council and the community by doing an independent and in depth analysis of the roundabout concept for Trinity Drive. I greatly appreciate the tremendous work that Mr. Williams has done analyzing the proposed roundabouts. Concerns about the throughput capacity of single lane roundabouts on Trinity Drive were confirmed recently by Ourston Roundabout Engineering, a firm that is highly regarded in the field of roundabout design. The council has received two petitions signed by more than 500 citizens, asking the council to keep Trinity Drive as four lanes and not add roundabouts. I feel that the Council should listen to Ourston Roundabout Engineering and to the petitioners, and that consideration of roundabouts for Trinity Drive should end this evening. Given the motion that we are now debating, however, it seems to me that the use of roundabouts on Trinity Drive has not been put to rest.
Quite to the contrary we are now discussing having the staff prepare design options for the section of Trinity Drive between Tewa Loop and Kencht, to be discussed at a future Council meeting. The final MIG report is focused on Option A3 with a roundabout at Tewa Loop and another roundabout at Airport Road. Given the county's experience with the NM 502 corridor design study and the public money that has already been spent on the roundabout concept why should the public expect that anything else other than a roundabout concept is going to be seriously considered at a future council meeting. I conclude from Mr. Williams' work and the Ourston review that any concept with single lane roundabouts is not going to meet our traffic flow requirements. Additional land would be required for a multi-lane roundabout concept and we have not evaluated whether even multi-lane roundabouts would be sufficient to meet our traffic flow needs. We have an opportunity tonight to show the public that as councilors we get the message. I believe that we should reject the MIG report and take no further action with regard to Trinity Drive. Lets allow NMDOT to continue with the process for improving the DP road intersection. The State identified a preferred design option for the DP road intersection more than two years ago. By conducting the Trinity Drive corridor study over the past year, in my opinion the county has delayed NMDOT from moving forward from its preferred design and making necessary changes to the intersection at DP Road.
A vote against roundabouts on Trinity is not a vote against pedestrians and bicyclists. We can improve access and safety for pedestrians and bicyclists by continuing construction of the Canyon Rim Trail from the airport to the medical center. This is the ideal conduit for pedestrians and bicyclists because there is a buffer between the trail and traffic. I strongly support moving forward with this trail, which does not conflict in any way with the State's preferred option for the DP road intersection.
There is one conclusion from the MIG report that I feel we should act upon immediately. Sound mitigation in the Eastern Area through the use of an 8 foot high sound wall along East Road could reduce the noise levels for residents in the area by a significant amount. I ask the council leadership to add an agenda item to a future council meeting so that the council can direct the staff to prepare a RFP for the design and construction of a sound wall. We don't need another council work session item to consider roundabouts. What we need to do is tell the staff to stop exploring the roundabout concept. In conclusion I urge the Council to put the needs of commuters and small businesses first by formally directing the staff not to consider design changes for Trinity Drive that involve the use of roundabouts or the reduction of the number of driving lanes from four lanes to two lanes.
