Transportation board endorses bicycle working group guidelines, excludes converting Central Avenue to one-way

The Los Alamos County Transportation Board voted 5–1 on a motion to thank the Bicycle Working Group for its 2025 report and to recommend that the design guidelines shown on pages 18 and 19 of the group’s presentation be considered on transportation projects where deemed appropriate by Public Works engineering staff, with the exception of turning Central Avenue into a one-way street.

The motion, moved by Member Edwards and seconded by Member Lizowski, passed with Chair Hampton, Vice Chair Talley, Member Chappell, Member Lizowski and Member Edwards voting yes and Member Muck voting no. Member Altair was absent.

The guidelines recommended by the working group include physical speed-control measures (rather than relying solely on posted speed limits), reduced speeds in residential areas, raised crossings and speed tables, protected intersections, and “modal-filtering” or “bral filtering” approaches that would limit through traffic on selected streets. The working group’s materials also showed design concepts for protected intersections and centerline “hardening” with bollards.

Board members debated several elements of the report at length. Multiple members said they supported many recommendations but opposed converting Central Avenue to a one-way street. Vice Chair Talley and others identified potential negative impacts on downtown traffic flow and business access and said one-way conversion would require a full traffic study and public engagement. Talley said the town had tried to avoid one-way streets in the past and cautioned that "we've tried in the past really hard to keep from moving to one way roads and streets because there's always confusion at an intersection." Member Muck repeatedly raised concerns about physical devices that might impede snow removal or emergency vehicles, asking why emergency apparatus would have to “mount” centerline devices and warning about impacts to vehicles with trailers.

Public Works Director Martinez told the board staff views the document as a set of guidelines rather than mandatory rules. "There are policies and codes and guidance that we have to follow for the establishment and setting the speed limits," Martinez said, adding that the guidance in the working group report would be considered alongside the county’s engineering practices and existing design standards. Martinez said some measures would not be feasible everywhere because of physical space, snow removal, drainage, maintenance demands and emergency-response needs, and that converting Central Avenue would require council review, public engagement, a transportation study and budget allocation before staff could pursue it.

Board members also discussed the working group’s suggested target speeds: the presentation lists recommended target speeds for different facility types (an example shown was a 10 mph target for shared spaces). Several members cautioned that current posted speeds in Los Alamos are generally 25 mph and that any lower posted speed would need accompanying physical measures and follow state/local speed-setting procedures.

After debate, the board amended language to specify the recommendations shown on pages 18–19 of the working-group presentation (not every illustrative slide), and to exclude converting Central Avenue to one-way. The adopted motion asks Public Works engineering staff to consider those guidelines “where deemed appropriate” in future project designs; it does not change county code or traffic ordinances and is advisory only.

Director Martinez and staff said they would apply the working-group guidance selectively when designing projects and would return project-level proposals to the board and, where appropriate, to the county council for review. No immediate construction or regulatory changes were authorized by today’s advisory vote.

Votes at a glance: Motion to thank the Bicycle Working Group and recommend consideration of guidelines on pages 18–19 of the presentation (except converting Central Avenue to a one-way street) — Passed 5–1 (Yes: Hampton, Talley, Chappell, Lizowski, Edwards; No: Muck; Absent: Altair).

The Transportation Board’s action is advisory: Martinez said staff would consider the guidance alongside existing standards and that any proposal changing traffic patterns or speeds would require the applicable traffic studies, engineering review and, where needed, council approval and budget authority.