Letters to the editor, 08/21/2007 - Train could funnel more cars onto high-traffic roads

Train could funnel more cars onto high-traffic roads

Our best chance to comment on the Rail Runner extension from Bernalillo to the Santa Fe Railyard is today, 5:30-8 p.m.. at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center. New Mexico Department of Transportation will discuss its environmental assessment. (See www.nmrailrunner.com.)

My concern is the effect on traffic at the intersection of Zia Road and St. Francis Drive. The tracks run very close to St. Francis Drive at this point.

During morning rush hours, Zia Road traffic backs up across the tracks for two blocks. Rail Runner will not improve things. A grade separation at Zia should be considered.

This would not be a problem if there were other good north-south cross-town routes.

There is a large and rapidly increasing population living south of Zia Road. Giving us such poor alternatives as the Yucca/Siringo/Llano/St. Michael’s/Osage route; Camino Carlos Rey/Cerrillos Road/Siler Road route, and South Richards Avenue /nothing/North Richards Avenue nonroute, the city continues to funnel the bulk of our traffic down Zia Road to St. Francis Drive.

Richard L. Wood
Santa Fe

Reroute Richards

I strongly agree with recent letter writers that Richards Avenue should be completed as a public road connecting Rodeo and Cerrillos roads. Actually, Richards should be made a continuous, arterial road from Santa Fe Community College on the south to N.M. 599 on the north. To redo Richards Avenue well would undoubtedly entail taking some houses; that should be done with fairness and empathy.

Richards Avenue is just one of several roads in Santa Fe that logically should be arterials in an hierarchical road system serving the area. That those roads are not continuous arterials is a consequence of Santa Fe City and County officials over many years being irresponsible and incompetent at planning and implementing a good community road system.

Glen Smerage
Santa Fe

Harvesting will happen

The Aug. 16 story, “State scraps plan to harvest rainwater,” at the Railyard is OK, but the headline is unfortunate and misleading. We will be harvesting rainwater from rooftops at the Railyard. Our elected officials in state government (state legislators and the Governor’s Office) have been very supportive of this program. Similarly, staff at the Office of the State Engineer have provided helpful guidance regarding hydrological, legal and political issues encountered along the way. We are quite proud of, and excited about, the water harvesting and conservation measures that will be implemented at the Railyard. The entire initiative represents a groundbreaking collaboration among system designers, generous tenants on the project, the Trust for Public Land, the Railyard Community Corporation and the city of Santa Fe. The infrastructure required to support the system presents some technical and financial challenges, but it’s the commitment to innovation and the spirit of cooperation among the people involved that are really making this program work.

Brian Drypolcher
Santa Fe

Suspect plague first

Thank you for your well-written Aug. 19 article, “Living with plague,” about Cindy Roper’s ordeal. While mentioned as part of Ms. Roper’s symptoms, your sideboard summary omitted the fact that 50 percent of plague patients experience abdominal pain; at least a quarter experience vomiting and diarrhea.

A study of plague patients in Gallup found that plague was suspected initially in only 37 percent of the patients. Many were thought to have an upper respiratory infection or gastroenteritis (“stomach flu”).

This area of New Mexico is the plague capital of the United States. It is important to consider a diagnosis of plague in any sick patient presenting with a high fever at this time of year, especially someone who lives in a rural setting. Many physicians new to New Mexico are unaware of the local risk of plague, and that plague can present with abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea.

Neal Devitt, M.D.
Santa Fe

Crows’ choice, too

Regarding your Aug. 10 editorial, “It tastes better under the arches”:

It’s not too surprising that young children would be influenced by McDonald’s packaging after exposure to targeted advertising. The same preference has been noted in a flock of crows that were offered identical french fries in both plain brown bags and the flashier McDonald’s packaging. Presumably the crows’ choice was influenced by time spent scavenging in parking lots under the golden arches rather than commercial viewing.

Mary Jo Harrod
Santa Fe