Casa Solana neighborhood: Neighbors fear project's traffic impact

Crowd blasts city's proposed northwest-side development

People who live near the city's proposed Northwest Quadrant development have more questions about road access than the city and its design team have answers.

A neighborhood meeting Tuesday night at Gonzales Elementary School turned into a wall-to-wall pep rally as residents voiced concern about what effect the proposed development will have on traffic in the Casa Solana neighborhood and surrounding areas. Frequent cheers erupted from the crowd of more than 200 people as speaker after speaker said the city's plans seemed unclear and unfair to west Santa Fe residents.

The city last week unveiled its newest concept for land it owns on the northwestern edge of the urban boundary -- something that has been discussed by officials for decades. The proposal, which is expected to work its way through the city committee process beginning this fall, includes input from professional designers as well as a ``homework'' group of business and community participants.

Not all the planners agree on the contentious issue of traffic, however. While a city-commissioned traffic analysis indicates Ridgetop Road would provide all the needed access for the 700 to 900 proposed homes, design team members want the city to make improvements to Calle Mejia and Alamo Drive so the development will have a more direct connection to the city.

An earlier plan to ask for state funding to build an interchange from Guadalupe Street to N.M. 599 also was contemplated by planners but has been scrapped because of the dismal prospect of securing the estimated $25 million it would cost. Residents who already access N.M. 599 from Ridgetop Road say that road is also too packed now to take on new traffic.

City Housing and Community Development Department Director Kathy McCormick said she's rethinking how the message about access has been delivered. ``We need to just get very clear and consistent about what we are talking about,'' McCormick said during a break from the meeting, noting the various ideas about traffic are confusing even to her.

Calle Mejia resident Mona Fisher said she was shocked that officials are even considering sending traffic to a dangerous intersection where the small street hits St. Francis Drive. ``I'm a bit surprised that the city is going to improve Calle Mejia for a new neighborhood when all these years they have let people die at that intersection,'' she said.

Open space and parks are planned to tie up more than half the 540 acres the city is including in the master plan. That was good news to those who already use dog-friendly Frank Ortiz Park, which is not slated for closure or major changes. The plan calls for possible trail improvements for pedestrians or bicycles near the dog park, something many park users are against.

``That park gets a lot of use, and we like it the way it is,'' said Jason Reed, who lives off Camino Carlos Rey and frequents the park. ``Dogs and bikes don't mix. This dog park is not broken; please don't fix it.''

Several hundred acres around the dog park will be permanent open space, according to the plan. Kevin Bersell liked that idea. ``I heard they are going to keep all that open space, and it's nice to know that is locked down,'' said Bersell, who lives in Casa Solana.

Bersell said he didn't get the hard answers about traffic that he came to the meeting to hear, however. Even if the development is supposed to be accessed only by Ridgetop Road, he's confident people will find a way to cut through his neighborhood.

Also undecided is how the proposal would interact with Santa Fe Public Schools. School Board President Frank Montano said a school in the area will be required in the future and planners did not include even a tentative spot for such an improvement, as the board requested.

``At this time, it is the opinion of the Santa Fe public school board that this is a premature plan,'' Montano said.

Several neighborhood associations signed up to have smaller presentations and meetings on the proposal. The city has aimed to provide affordable housing in the development by selling more than half the units at fixed prices.

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.