The University of New Mexico

NEWS RELEASE


Contact: Amelia Rouse, 505-277-1099
instpp@unm.edu

April 16, 2008

UNM Institute for Public Policy Announces Citizen Recommendations for Transportation Planning for Southeastern New Mexico Region

On Jan. 10, the University of New Mexico Institute for Public Policy facilitated a citizen conference in Carlsbad to discuss long-range planning recommendations for the New Mexico Department of Transportation. A citizen conference is an exercise in deliberative democracy, focusing on learning, deliberation and recommendations by members of the local community about issues important to them.

10 “citizen advisors” were recruited at random from the Carlsbad area to question state and local transportation experts about a variety of transportation-related issues and then reached their conclusions.

Those recommendations included:

  • Readdressing the issues and factors that led to the failure of the bypass (Charles Lee) and overpass (HWY 54 / 70) in Alamogordo, and repairing those failures immediately. DOT should seek community outreach and feedback to identify and readdress problems with DOT / contractor accountability.
  • Increasing accountability for contractor quality of work to assure taxpayer funds are well spent, and reexamining the role of incentives in delivery and quality of work.
  • Installing traffic lights and turn lanes on HWY 82 and North Florida in Alamogordo to decrease speed and accidents, and to improve line-of-sight issues.
  • Adding guardrails on HWY 54 at culverts between Tularosa and Carrizozo.
  • Creating public transportation in Lincoln county and Ruidoso, considering fixed routes with seasonal adjustments.
  • Installing reflective lane markers (delineators, raised pavement markers, turtles, bumps etc.) to delineate road edges and center of lane markers, especially for night and bad weather conditions.
For more information about the UNM Institute for Public Policy or this meeting and the recommendations given, please contact Amelia Rouse at 505-277-1099.

 


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