Editor:

In her letter of Aug. 18 regarding Southern Boulevard road work, Trina King misrepresents herself as a road-construction expert.

She makes a lot of assertions and projects conclusions about a road that is not yet finished. She complains that her area of Southern is still a mess, and she accuses the construction company of taking short cuts to meet a September completion with no substantiation.

The projected completion is actually for October.

She complains of orange barrels that have been in place for months. Yes, that’s because this road is still under construction — “experts” know this is a needed safety measure.

She complains that the alleged ramps at Country Club are in violation of federal law because they are really curbs, and there will always be flooding in the area because of flooding during a recent storm. However, the final surfacing has yet to be completed, and ramps and flooding will be resolved when it is.

She complains we need more sidewalks and public transportation. I suggest she and her neighbors go online … and look at the plan for the completion of the project, which includes plenty of sidewalks and bike paths to accommodate all residents.

Public transportation is really a regional issue, not a problem with Southern, but one just needs to observe how many available seats are on the buses that currently travel this route to see that our residents aren’t using the service that is currently available. How could a transit authority justify including more buses?

When you consider the scope of the Southern Blvd project, I think the contractor has been doing a great job of keeping traffic flowing while continuing to work on completing the road according to schedule. In fact, the flow of traffic has been so good that most of the stores in the area, including some new ones, are enjoying an uptick in business.

I’m looking forward to the SOS —Shop on Southern — celebration on Sept. 21, coordinated by the city and the chamber of commerce, which will celebrate the progress and show off how the road will look on completion.

Jay Inventor

Rio Rancho