Land sale clears the way for Richards extension
Dec. 9—With a quick vote and no discussion, the State Game Commission has sealed a $3 million land sale to the city of Santa Fe, removing a hurdle to building the contentious Richards Avenue extension.
Commissioners on Thursday approved the minutes to an October hearing in which they had approved selling 23 acres to the city — a technicality required to make the sale binding.
Several acres of the land are needed for the city to install a connector across the Arroyo de los Chamisos and link the north and south sections of Richards Avenue.
Part of the land is unbuildable, mostly where the arroyo cuts through, but the city is considering what could be developed on the usable portion, such as affordable housing and a community center, said Regina Wheeler, the city's public works director.
The city is gearing up to do preliminary work, such as an environmental assessment and topographical surveys.
"We're doing due diligence," Wheeler said.
The planned extension has been contentious from the outset.
Some residents support it because it would relieve traffic on streets in surrounding neighborhoods and provide a more direct route between Cerrillos Road and Rodeo Road, where Richards Avenue heads south to the Santa Fe Community College District.
Others oppose it, saying it would funnel more traffic through their neighborhoods. A traffic study estimated the extension would escalate traffic on Richards Avenue to about 10,000 vehicles a day.
City officials are leaning toward building a roundabout just south of the arroyo, where Richards Avenue, a fire station service road and Camino del Prado would converge.
The roundabout would slow traffic and reduce the volume, making it a better option than creating a T-intersection where Richards and the fire station road meet, Wheeler said in a hearing on the project.
If the connector runs as a long, mostly unbroken stretch, it could encourage drag racing, she said.
During the hearing, a few residents expressed concerns about how building affordable housing and other structures on city property would increase traffic even more on the connector, and would change the character of the nearby neighborhoods.
Officials responded by saying it was too soon to speculate on future development and their impacts.
The city initially came up with four options for the extension, including a no-build one. Planners eventually went with the one dubbed "Alternative B," which took the most direct path between Richards Avenue's north and south sections.
In an earlier interview, City Councilor Jamie Cassutt said she supports the extension because it will improve the traffic patterns in an area where motorists often must use residential streets to drive from the college district to Cerrillos Road.
"What the Richards extension really allows us to do is spread out the increase of traffic in this area so that it's not really just impacting one or a couple residential streets,' she said.
The extension can include bike and pedestrian pathways between certain sections of the city, Cassutt said, adding she wants to see those included in the design.
People in surrounding neighborhoods have voiced opposition to the project, although some have acknowledged the extension is needed to improve the city's connectivity, Cassutt said.
She and others have talked with residents to get ideas on how to minimize the impacts of the extension, such as installing traffic-calming features.
"Will it still have an impact? Yes, absolutely," Cassutt said. "I think that is one of the reasons that this has been such a challenging topic and why there is a lot of disagreement among constituents as to whether or not this is the best thing to move forward with."
