DAILY LOBO new mexico
Raindrops on roses see page 4
April 18, 2012
wednesday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Projects widening Lead and Coal end
Tulane Drive and Coal Avenue Before
by Svetlana Ozden sozden@unm.edu
Dylan Smith / Daily Lobo
After
Rebecca Hampton / Daily Lobo
The city of Albuquerque partially reopened the newly renovated Lead and Coal avenues last week. Mark Motsko, spokesman for the city’s Department of Municipal Development, said the $26 million Lead and Coal Improvements Project began in October 2010 is 85 percent complete, and should be finished by the end of Spring 2012. He said both streets returned to the original one-way direction, with limited lane closures. “We’ve reduced the lanes from three lanes of traffic to two lanes of traffic, a bicycle lane, and wider sidewalk with pedestrian amenities like park benches, trash bins and new bus stops,” he said. “We’re finishing up the curb and gutter, installing cross walks, landscaping, the final level of paving, and then striping.” Motsko said the department tried to maintain access to the local business throughout the construction. He said the department added a business directory to the project’s website at www. leadandcoal.com and provided signage during the construction to notify drivers how to get to the businesses. But Nan Morningstar, owner of Free Radicals on the corner of Yale Boulevard and Lead Avenue, said her business still struggled to stay afloat throughout the construction while other businesses such as Stepp’n-2Style and Saffron Café shut down. “Sales have been down 30 percent for the past year,” she said. “It’s been terrible, a lot of places shut down, even the farmer’s market.” Morningstar said she has yet to notice any improvements in business since the roads reopened, but she said she is happy that the project is almost complete. UNM student Jaymie Wren, who lives on Columbia Drive, between Lead and Coal, said she is relieved the construction is done because the construction doubled the time it takes for her to get to school. “Thank goodness it’s almost done,” she said. “I used to have to drive over a huge mound of dirt and drive the wrong way on the street if I wanted to get to school on time, or I could go all the way around it to the next street or ride my bike, but in the winter it was really cold and I know it’s not that far, but it sucked.”
Sustainability Expo offers bike sale, fresh produce Staff report
news@dailylobo.com
In honor of Earth Day, UNM hosts an annual bike auction, transportation fair and a grower’s market. The Fourth Annual Sustainability Expo runs Thursday
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 116
issue 140
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cornell Mall. Parking and Transportation Services will host an alternative transportation fair to discuss alternative methods to get to campus, the UNM Police Department will be running a bike auction and the Lobo Grower’s Market will offer
fresh fruit and vegetables for sale. The events, sponsored by the Office of Sustainability, PATS, Sustainability Studies, ASUNM Student Spe cial Events and KUNM, aims to raise awareness about the environment and alternative transportation.
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BOX:Sustainability Expo Sustainability Expo Today Today 10 a.m.-2 10p.m. a.m.-2 p.m. Cornell Mall Grower’sCornell Market Mall UNMPD bike auction
alternative-transportation fair Activities: break dancing Grower’s Market mural painting UNMPD bike auction yoga alternative-transportation fair face painting break dancing mural painting face painting
TODAY
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