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Stop Signs at Cabezon-Loma Larga Coming Down |
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Written by Jeff Radford
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Tuesday, 18 December 2007 |
Stop signs for north- and south-bound traffic on Loma Larga at the Cabezon Road intersection are on their way down.
At the December 11 Village Council meeting, a resolution was approved
calling for the now-four-way stop to be transformed to a two-way stop.
Only drivers on Cabezon and Cielo Vista del Norte will have to stop.
No date was set for the change-over. “The Village administration is
instructed to implement the foregoing provisions of this resolution as
promptly as is reasonably feasible by the removal of stop signs and the
posting of appropriate signs notifying drivers of the elimination of
the stop signs on Loma Larga at the designated locations,” the
resolution said.
Removal of the stop signs for Loma Larga traffic at that location has
been urged by Councillor Jim Fahey for at least two years. His stated
reason has been to make Loma Larga a more attractive route for
motorists, thereby relieving traffic on Corrales Road.
Councillor Fahey said at the November 27 meeting he had been told that
the major obstacle to pulling up the stop signs has been resolved.
Removal had been thwarted because only half of the intersection is
within the Village of Corrales’ jurisdiction. The boundary line between
Corrales and Albuquerque runs along the centerline of Cabezon, so
Corrales officials couldn’t unilaterally pull up Albuquerque’s stop
sign at the southeast corner of the intersection.
Consultations were begun months ago to accomplish that, and now permission has been granted, Fahey reported.
Other problems, such as limited sight distances at the intersection due
to bushy evergreen trees, had been identified earlier as well.
Discussion at the December 11 council meeting will likely focus on how
to resolve those remaining issues.
Once that is accomplished, the Cabezon-Loma Larga intersection would
get the same treatment as the Meadowlark-Loma Larga intersection.
When the stop signs for Loma Larga drivers at Meadowlark were removed
in summer 2006, at least one collision occurred and many
near-misses were recounted. Special signs were posted to alert
Meadowlark drivers that Loma Larga traffic would no longer stop.
Although it took months to re-condition drivers, they seem to finally
have become accustomed to the change-over to a two-way stop.
Councillor Fahey has pushed even harder to get the stop signs removed
at the Loma Larga-Camino Arco Iris, but those remain up. Several
problems there had to be addressed, such as drainage and sight
distances. Village officials persuaded a property owner there to remove
a portion of a wall that obstructed the view of Loma Larga traffic, but
some time later a new obstruction was erected.
Shortly after the stop signs on Loma Larga at Meadowlark came down,
around 4:30 p.m. on July 25, 2006 a Toyota Rav-4 was rear-ended by a
commercial vehicle. The woman driving the Toyota was headed south on
Loma Larga, driving through what was previously a four-way stop.
But a car going east on Meadowlark did not stop for her, so she slammed
on the brakes to avoid that collision.
That resulted in a rear-end collision when the driver of the commercial
vehicle behind her did not stop in time to avoid hitting her car.
The incident was reported to the mayor and councillors at the Village
Council meeting later that evening. Richard Isaacson submitted
photographs of the accident scene, and called for restoration of the
intersection as a four-way stop.
“Making it a two-way stop has proven to be dangerous,” he pointed out.
“During the evening from around four p.m. —rush hour, if you will—
there is usually traffic piled up on Meadowlark in both directions.”
In the past, he recalled, cars on either Loma Larga or Meadowlark would
have had to stop a mere 30 seconds or so before proceeding through the
intersection. “Certainly that’s not very much time at all.
“I’m tired of seeing the accidents since it’s been changed to a two-way
stop for Meadowlark. In fact, sure enough, this evening there was an
accident there and I photographed it.
“I would like to point out that the police and fire departments of
Corrales responded very quickly, and did a very adequate job. But this
shouldn’t be happening. The present situation shouldn’t be allowed to
continue.
“As a minimum, put in four-way flashing lights indicating for all
drivers that there’s a change at the intersection. Now there are no
lights at all. There’s only very inadequate signage on Meadowlark. They
are so small that most people miss them.
“But returning to the four-way stop would be an easy fix. I have
noticed over the past couple of weeks that some people on Loma Larga,
as they approach the intersection, either slow down or stop. And people
behind them make an illegal pass, usually with the appropriate comment
with fingers, and continue on, again, creating a situation that would
cause an accident.” |
