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| The start (or ending point) of the Santa Fe Rail Trail at the Railyard Plaza |
Santa Fe
voters recently approved a second parks-and-trails bond measure to fund continued
improvements to the city's growing
urban trails system.
The system includes three main east-west alignments - the
Santa Fe River Trail, the
Acequia Trail, and the
Arroyo Chamiso Trail - and the north-south alignment of the
Santa Fe Rail Trail which intersects the other three.
The three east-west corridors will remain in progress for several years with planned extensions all the way out to NM 599 with connections north to the city soccer field complex in the Caja del Rio, and south to NM 14.
Trail descriptions and maps of these trail corridors are as follows:
-
Arroyo Chamisos Trail
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Santa Fe Rail Trail
-
Santa Fe River Trail
-
The Acequia Trail, and
The new system is in addition to
the area's hiking and biking recreation trails which include the
Dale Ball Trails, the
Winsor Trail System,
La
Tierra Trails, Arroyo Hondo, and the Galisteo Basin.
A total of $6 million from the most recent bond sale will
be allocated for priority urban trail projects over the next few years. This new capital follows an initial $9 million in funding approved by voters in 2008, both specifically allocated to
city trails and road-sharing projects.
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| Arroyo Chamisos Trail |
Funds were used to acquire the necessary easements
and build out trail extensions for the
Santa Fe River Trail and the new
Acequia Trail west of St Francis Dr, as well as extend the
Arroyo Chamisos Trail west to
the Santa Fe Place Mall (via a new underpass at Rodeo Rd), and now east with
access to the
Gail Ryba Trail and Christus St. Vincent Hospital (via an underpass at St Francis Dr). The 2008 investment
was nicely complemented by state and federal funding for the
Santa Fe Rail Trail in conjunction with the construction of the New Mexico Rail Runner
Commuter Train.
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| Santa Fe County Rail Trail |
The end result of this flurry of planning and investment is a
new framework of paved multi-use trails within city limits. Beginning with the
first few miles of the
Arroyo Chamisos Trail in 1997, the system now includes
four main trails anchored by the 17mi
Rail Trail which connects them all.
Really, really good stuff.
The Santa Fe Metropolitan Planning Organization (SFMPO) has mapped out priority
lists for
planned trail extensions, improvements, and bike-share corridors which
include shoulder widening along some streets and lane striping. Of the new $6
million in funding, priority trail work will include the following:
- $2M
for a planned underpass of the Santa Fe River Trail at Alameda and St Francis Drive. This is a key link
along the River Trail that's really going to tie together the stretch of new
trail to the west of St Francis (extending to Frenchy's Field at Osage and
Agua Fria), to the older section that
passes through downtown up as far as Delgado St. Updated Here:
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| The Santa Fe Acequia Trail |
- Completion
of sections of the Rail Trail between St Francis Dr. and Alta Vista, along
Pen Rd.
and along the South Capitol Rail Runner Station.
- Extensions
and improvements to the Acequia Trail which now stretches behind the New
Mexico School for the Deaf (west of the Santa Fe Railyard) to Baca Rd
and a trailhead island at Ashbaugh Park
that currently goes nowhere.
Planned improvements will extend the trail through Ashbaugh Park and Osage Ave. to Harrison Rd near the county boundary.
- Extension
of the Gail Ryba Trail along St Francis Dr (which will soon be connected
to the Rail Trail and Arroyo Chamisos Trail via underpass), east to Botulph
Rd and East Zia Rd.
- Construction
of another mile extension to the W. Arroyo Chamiso trail section as it
slowly edges its way toward Cerrillos
Rd and an eventual linkup with the larger E.
Arroyo Chamisos Trail section.
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| The Santa Fe Rail Trail |
- Construction
of a new multi-use trail along the Arroyo en Medio/Arroyo Chapparal in
south Santa Fe, connecting Ragle Park to the New Mexico Rail Runner
station at Zia Rd, as-well-as to the intersection of the Rail Trail,
Arroyo Chamisos Trail, and Gail Ryba Trails. I don't know whether to be
happy or sad about this one since the dirt footpath that runs through this
open space now is where I begin most of my runs. I'll be just another
victim of progress it seems, albeit super-rad progress.
- Construction
of the proposed Sarah Williams Trail along the Canada Ancha and lower Hyde
Park Rd, connecting the Dale Ball Trails at
Sierra del Norte to Gonzales
Rd, and a
eventual connection to the planned (now completed) Gonzales Rd Pedestrian Trail stretching down to Alameda St. and the Santa Fe River Trail.
- Additional
and improved bike lane striping on city streets, including the widening of
shoulders in some locations. If you do a lot of commuting and getting around by bike - like myself and a growing group of other bikeys around town - this is important work that will get its fair share of use.
- Further details of the bond funded trail improvements can be found at the
Trail Improvements Tab (above).
- Additional info here at the
City of Santa Fe website
- A bit about the new
St. Francis underpass and Gail Ryba Trail extension from the
Santa Fe New Mexican.
- A bit about the
new connector trail to Museum Hill and the Santa Fe Botanical Gardens from the
Santa Fe New Mexican (left).
Related Posts:
-
Multi Use Trails Update (2014)
-
Arroyo Chamiso Underpass
-
Acequia Trail Underpass
View Acequia Trail - Santa Fe, NM in a larger map
