4th Street Revitalization Project

1999 4th Street EA Report   ||   Environmental Reassessment
Planner's Ink Report [pdf]  ||  Designs  ||  Urban Planning Links

The project to revitalize Fourth Street began in earnest in 1997, with the hiring of Wilson & Company to prepare a corridor study and assessment. The Village process continued with the formation of a Fourth Street Citizen's Advisory Committee, as well as the completion of the Village 2010 Master Plan. The Wilson corridor study led to an environmental assessment for a project to improve the Fourth Street infrastructure.

The public hearing on the Environmental Assessment for the Fourth Street Corridor (Montano Road to Alameda Boulevard), Village of Los Ranchos, Bernalillo County, New Mexico, NMSHTD Project # TPU-(M)-5089(2)05, Control No. 3475, prepared by Wilson and Company, December 1999 (1999 EA) was held on January 11, 2000. During the hearing extensive testimony was presented that favored an improvement alternative (a three-lane section) that had been eliminated from consideration in an earlier phase of the project. Written comments from agency experts in transportation planning were also critical of the decision to dismiss the three-lane alternative without study. In response, and in consideration of public input and new Village leadership, many of the assessment criteria that eliminated the three-lane alternative from consideration were changed. After these changes and a series of design workshops (see below) held in the Spring and Summer of 2000, the three-lane alternative became the build alternative preferred by the Village, and is the subject of the Environmental Reassessment released for comment and a public hearing to be held on August 21, 2001 at Taft Middle School.

No final decisions have been made. The selection will be based on the need for the project; viable alternatives; social, economic, and environmental impacts; and public input on each of the alternatives. After evaluation of the public and agency comments, the Village of Los Ranchos, in coordination with the New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department, will select a recommended alternative from those discussed in the 1999 EA and the Environmental Reassessment. The Federal Highway Administration will then independently evaluate and determine if the selected build alternative will have a significant impact on the human or natural environment based on the 1999 EA, the Environmental Reassessment and public/agency comments following the public hearing.

Public Design Workshops
We had a week long series of public design workshops (Charette) for the 4th St. Corridor with Wilson and Company on June 26th, 2000. Wilson and Company, engineers assembled a team of outside experts along with planners Tom Leatherwood and Charles Deans of Planners Ink to ask for your ideas, not just on what to do with the road, but with the buildings and trees and parking lots on each side to make 4th Street into a pleasant space to be, fitting the character of the Village of Los Ranchos. See Planner's Ink Final Report. [pdf]

Creative Designs for Fourth Street by the UNM School of Architecture & Planning
Working with the Village of Los Ranchos, students at the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning have prepared several design schemes to assist us in our efforts to revitalize 4th Street. All were displayed at a recent meeting of the Los Ranchos Chamber of Commerce and will be presented more formally at their next meeting. We have included pictures and descriptions for your consideration. Comments will be carefully considered and incorporated into just two schemes which will be presented to the Village Trustees on December 6, 2000.

Other important information can be found at the following links:

• Urban Planning Links

• Read about the Mayor's vision for the Future and view of the past in two articles recently published in the Albuquerque Tribune: Seeing The Future, Restoring Our Roots and From Royal Road to Fourth Street

• Another comprehensive article written about 4th Street for the Albuquerque Tribune on July 31, 2000 by Nancy Salem called Project opens road of opportunity for Los Ranchos is based on an exhaustive interview with the Mayor and design team members.

• Articles by Rick Chellman, TND Engineering, one of our Guest Speakers on Sunday afternoon:

Nantucket Transportation Planning and Mitigation Guidelines [pdf]
The Design of New Urbanist Streets [pdf]