Transportation Board votes 5'to'1 to ask staff to consider Bicycle Working Group guidelines, excluding Central one-way

The Los Alamos Transportation Board voted 5'to'1 on Wednesday to thank the Bicycle Working Group and ask Public Works engineering staff to consider the guidelines presented in the group's 2025 report (as shown on pages 18 and 19 of the presentation), with an explicit exception for turning Central Avenue into a one-way street.

The board's action is advisory: Director Martinez said the recommendation asks staff to "consider" the guidance as projects are designed and that many traffic-control measures are governed by existing policies, codes and engineering practice. He told the board that recommendations in the report are bounding guidance rather than mandates and that feasibility depends on right-of-way, snow removal, emergency access, drainage and maintenance.

Supporters described the working group's report as comprehensive and said many of the proposed design elements—speed tables, raised crossings, modal filtering and protected intersections—could improve bicycle and pedestrian safety if applied selectively. Opponents and several board members warned the Central Avenue one-way conversion would reduce downtown traffic capacity, risk harming businesses and could create driver confusion at intersections; one member also said physical devices such as bollards and centerline hardening could complicate emergency and large-vehicle turns.

After discussion and a failed initial motion to adopt a narrower recommendation, the board approved a revised motion that thanks the working group and recommends that the guidelines in the 2025 report be considered on transportation projects where Public Works engineering staff deem them appropriate, but excludes converting Central Avenue to a one-way street. The board recorded a 5'to'1 vote; Member Muck voted no. The motion does not itself change county policy or traffic ordinances.

Director Martinez said that any significant configuration change to Central Avenue would require a full traffic study, public engagement and likely further council review. He also noted that staff already uses many national guidance documents referenced by the working group and will return to the board with options when an engineering review finds a recommendation feasible.

What comes next: staff will evaluate which items are actionable, flag constraints (maintenance, drainage, emergency access, historic-preservation review where applicable) and may present designs or pilot options to the board or county council for further review.