TMBA Board and member representatives attended the NM Departments of Transportation public meeting to advocate for the continued inclusion of bike lanes on all highway and road improvements in the Taos area. Held at the City Council chambers in Taos, TMBA was joined by representatives of ECTA, and other area cyclists in a show of support for bike lanes.
We are pleased to report that all of the proposed new construction does indeed include bike lanes for the HWY 68 and 64 upgrades (with the exception of the choke point at Kit Carson and N. Plaza).
This new construction will take two construction seasons (summer of 2020 and summer of 2021), will cover from the La Posta intersection to Camino de la Placita, and will only cost $21.9 million.
During the public question period, TMBA asked whether the bike lanes would have any of the advanced coloring that is being adopted in other bike friendly communities, and whether there would be bike-actuated crossing signals included with the new “state of the art” traffic signals. We were told there are no current plans for coloring the lanes, but that can be added later, and there may be an opportunity to program the microwave sensors on the signals to detect cyclists without having to press a button on the sidewalk. TMBA will follow up on this issue.
It is very encouraging that the new construction and rehabilitation includes accommodation for recreational and commuter cycling for the Town of Taos.
Eventually project details and status will be found at www.TAOSNM6864.com.