photo by George Johnson
District 2 Candidates Respond to Neighborhood Questionnaire
Canyon Neighborhood Association pamphlet
This recent New Mexican article shows who is funding the District 2 candidates.
photo by
George Johnson
"Cabra" means goat in Spanish, and Camino Cabra is called that because it used to be a goat trail, winding its way from the Santa Fe River up into the foothills of Atalaya Mountain. But over the years the traffic on this street has grown so bad that it sometimes seems more like a highway. On weekdays, a steady stream of vehicles, including large diesel trucks and Greyhound-sized tour buses, barrel up and down this winding residential street in defiance of the 25-m.p.h. speed limit. This is not only a noise and pollution problem but a danger to neighbors and the children who attend the four schools -- Manderfield Head Start, Cristo Rey, Atalaya, and Rio Grande -- along Camino Cabra.
Now is a crucial time for everyone living on or near Cabra (including residents of Camino San Acacio, Camino Delora, Camino de La Luz, Camino Ribera, Camino Picacho, Los Miradores, Canyon Road, East Alameda, Camino Pequeno, and Apodaca Hill Road) to join together and ask the city to protect the neighborhood. There is no stopping the trucks, but there are ways to reduce the noise and pollution from this and the already existing traffic problems. Solutions might include traffic-calming measures -- like the speed humps that were recently placed on Camino de Las Crucitas. (These are much gentler than the speed bumps in parking lots and help slow traffic to 25 m.p.h.) Another possibility might be traffic-slowing circles at the intersection of Cabra and Cruz Blanca (by the entrance to St. John's College), and at Cabra and Upper Canyon Road, by Cristo Rey church. These entranceways, which could include some landscaping, would remind drivers that they are entering a residential neighborhood.
It might also be possible to impose restrictions that would reduce the number of large commercial vehicles on the entire length of Camino Cabra -- from Camino Pequeno to Camino Cruz Blanca. Full-size diesel tour buses could be banned entirely in favor of the smaller, quieter, locally-owned shuttles run by companies like Fiesta Tours, Loretto Line, and Grayline. Moving vans and large commercial delivery trucks could be required to transfer their cargo to smaller trucks before entering the residential area.
Finally we can ask the city to make a concerted effort to enforce speed limits and muffler ordinances on Camino Cabra.
How you can help
1. If you support the effort to reduce traffic on Camino Cabra, please contact me as soon as possible. The more names I can get on the list of supporters, the more successful we are likely to be. If enough neighbors tell me they support this project, I will contact our city councilors and the city neighborhood coordinator and ask them how to proceed.
2. Please let me know if you are willing to help by making phone calls, gathering signatures for a petition, etc.
You can contact me at 989-4490 or by email at cabra@talaya.net. And please check back here regularly for updates.
Thanks very much.
George Johnson