Editor:

Your article on the road work being done on Southern Boulevard, headlined “On the roads again…” is not completely accurate.

Despite what Mayor Gregg Hull says, if this part of Southern is finished by September, it will be because the construction company has taken shortcuts. My area of Southern is still a mess.

There are still construction materials on Pinetree Road, and one entrance to the post office has been closed for months. The sidewalk has construction barrels along it.

They did not grade the street properly near Country Club Drive, so when we had a torrential rainstorm a few weeks ago, Southern flooded. It didn’t do that before.

This means the whole street probably will flood every time we have a heavy rain. This will decrease the quality of the street and cause it to deteriorate quicker.

In addition, at Country Club, they put the crosswalk button in an inaccessible place. Unless you are very nimble, you can’t reach it, and then the light will change before you can get back to the corner.

In addition, they are in violation of federal law, as the alleged ramps on Country Club and Southern are really curbs. Someone will have an accident, as there is supposed to be handicapped accessibility on all corners.

There were some other issues. I had written to our councilwoman and have received no answer. In the past, I had also addressed some of my concerns to the mayor, and I found his answer not very reassuring.

We may need our roads repaired, but if we had sidewalks and decent public transportation, then maybe we would not have so many cars tearing up the streets. There are also a number of people here who do not drive or prefer not to, and we have no good alternatives.

It seems the city is only concerned with those who have vehicles. At least, I do not understand why we cannot have more sidewalks.

The mayor’s explanation to me did not seem sufficient.

Rio Rancho needs to be a place for all its residents. I don’t see this and neither do some of my neighbors. And I doubt that there are any development plans that take these issues into account.

Sincerely,

Trina King

Rio Rancho

(Editor’s note: The Observer stands by the accuracy of the article mentioned above, including the mention of Southern Boulevard construction currently being scheduled to finish in October.)