Corrales residents say they don’t want the Corrales Interior Drain to change much.
A consultant hired by the village has recommended that the two-mile-long remain substantially the same.
Amy Bell of Anthropopulus Design and Planning, giving a review of the planning process to the Village Council Tuesday evening, said the firm’s suggestions are limited to some safety improvements and features designed to favor local traffic.
Among the issues at hand is how much access should be available, where and for whom. Bell said the drain has been open for pedestrian, vehicular and equestrian traffic, and one of the goals for the master plan is to decide how access should be managed.
She said that, in line with community consensus, the interior drain committee is not recommending that any vehicle pathway in the drain be paved.
“We are not even proposing to change the dirt surfacing of the roadway,” Bell said. “I think there’s opportunities for grading and making it easier to drive on. But we also heard from folks, ‘hey, those potholes are really great because they slow people down.’”
Bell said three piles of dirt built up in parts of the drain indicate the strength of locals’ desire to keep vehicle speeds down.
She said signage and flexible bollards can also be used to discourage excessive vehicle traffic through the area. The latter, she said, serve as a visual barrier, yet won’t impede emergency vehicles that need to pass.
Bell said one potential change would be using differently colored materials for the surfaces meant for pedestrians, bicyclists and horses to keep vehicles away from those areas.
Other priorities, she said, are enhancing safety, ecological stewardship and maintaining drain function.
Planners are considering establishing “habitat zones,” in which the conservation of plant and animal species could be fostered. Bell said the village could create a habitat zone steward program and partner with youth and volunteer groups for much of the work.
Funding for the project could come from the Ciudad Soil & Water Conservation District, the New Mexico Department of Transportation’s Traffic Safety Division, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or other agencies.
Councilor Zachary Burkett asked about traffic data. He said he thinks traffic is highest around the times when classes start and end at Corrales Elementary School, and that changing traffic patterns connected to expansion of the campus will reduce traffic loads in the drain.
Bell said there are no official numbers, but residents have complained about delivery vehicles in the drain and the dust stirred up by every vehicle.
Councilor Bill Woldman asked about possible public art along the pathway, similar to what Bernalillo County has done along Second Street.
Bell said she had a similar thought, but feedback from community members indicated that public art would draw additional people to the drain, which they don’t want.
Input was gathered at social events, community presentations and conversations with local groups including the Kiwanis Club and the Equestrian Advisory Commission.
The Corrales Interior Drain was built in the 1930s for the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District. Bell said the area at that time was kind of swampy, and the district wanted to lower groundwater levels and return irrigation water to the Rio Grande so the land would be more arable. The drain has not functioned as originally intended for several decades.
The drain runs from Valverde Road in the north down to the Corrales Riverside Drain in the south.
Plans for the drain will be further discussed at a July 9 public input meeting, with the plan expected to go before the council July 22.