East Mountain Trails & Bikeways Master Plan - Bernalillo County

added pavement width needed to create a
shoulder that road cyclists could use.
Mountain Valley Road (NM 217) from I-40 to
Frost Road (AWDT 900-3,500 vehicles) has
newly-constructed six-foot shoulders for the
section north of Wildlife Trail and south of
Revelation Place. The shoulders have been
constructed to be level with the driving lanes—in
other words, no pavement joint between the
driving lane and the shoulder. Unfortunately, the
shoulders were covered with debris. The
remainder of Mountain Valley Road has no
paved shoulders. The County has plans to finish
the construction of paved shoulders south to I-40
and north to Frost Road.
New Paved Shoulders on Mountain Valley Road
NM 333 (“Old Route 66) from NM 217 to the
County line (AWDT 6,000) is another instance of
a road with wide driving lanes and narrow paved
shoulders where re-striping might be able to
reduce the amount of added pavement width
needed to create a shoulder usable by bicyclists.
The other County roads driven during the field
visit were Meadow Drive, Oak Flats Road, Anaya
Road north of Gonzales Road, Gonzales Road,
Juan Tomas Road, Sedillo Hill Road (AWDT 400-
1,700 vehicles), and Vallecitos Road (AWDT
1,500-1,800 vehicles). The daily traffic volume
carried by each of these roads is probably low
enough that the driving lanes themselves could
be used safely by bicyclists. Because of existing
adjacent features – drop-offs, culverts, guard
rails, driveways, and fences – adding paved
shoulders to these roads would be expensive.
With the amount of debris that tends to build up
on shoulders, it is likely that bicyclists would use
the driving lanes anyway. This statement also
applies to State-maintained NM 217 (AWDT 500-
2,600 vehicles).
2. Existing Formal Off-Road
Pedestrian, Equestrian and Bicycle
Facilities
There are few sidewalks in the plan area.
Equestrians, bicyclists and pedestrians use many
road rights-of-way, even without
accommodations. A significant number of
informal trails also cross private land throughout
the plan area. The following paths exist formally
or informally off the highways but within the
public rights-of-way.
• NM 14 from I-40 to Frost Road has an
asphalt- paved recreational trail on the east
side and a signed “horse route” on the west
side which is unpaved and too narrow in
places. This path provides pedestrian access
to the majority of the area’s commercial
businesses, which are located along NM 14.
Multiple driveways on both sides
characterize this path.
NM 14 Paved Recreational Trail on East Side of Road
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EAST MOUNTAIN TRAILS AND BIKEWAYS MASTER PLAN