HUNDREDS CITES FOR STRONG DRIVING:

Cliff Hansen said in an email: “Your column from May 17 summarized the discussion of possible penalties for speeding. Since many of the worst offenders have probably also modified the exhaust on their vehicles I wanted to point out that the Albuquerque city code offers a remedy.

“Article 10, section 7-10-3, allows the city to declare the vehicles of offenders as nuisances, under penalty of starting the second offense and confiscating the third offense. Listed offenses include street racing, exhibition driving, excessive sound or music, or modification of exhaust systems. I’ve never heard of this part of the city code actually being enforced. The text uses “must” and not “may”, which leaves no choice whether or not to apply the sanctions. Perhaps a question as to how many times this prescription has been used would be instructive.

Here we go, courtesy of Camille Baca and the numbers gurus at the Metropolitan Court. Although they did not provide a breakdown of the second and third offenses, hundreds of citations were issued. For your information, a first offense is punishable by “fine not exceeding $500…imprisonment not exceeding 90 days or both”.

• Under General Order 7-10-3, Violation of the Vehicle Nuisance Ordinance, three in 2020, six in 2021 and nine through May of this year.

• Under 7-10-3(A), illegal drag racing and other competitive racing, 38 tickets were issued in 2020, 19 in 2021 and 12 through May this year. (My April 25 column included 191 others cited in 2021 under the city’s spectator/drag or street racing ordinance, 8-2-4-6.)

• Under 7-10-3(B), Illegal Exposure Conduct, 66 in 2020, 39 in 2021 and 31 through May of this year.

• Under 7-10-3(C), anyone is prohibited from using a vehicle as an instrument of threat or intimidation (i.e. road rage), three in 2020 and none last year or so far this year.

• Under 7-10-3(E), Illegal use of modification of exhaust systems, 131 in 2020, 181 in 2021 and 133 until May of this year.

• And under 7-10-3(D), Nuisance Vehicle – Excessively Loud Electronic Music or Sound, five in 2020, 21 in 2021 and five through May of this year.

WYOMING IS NOT DONE: Michael emails, “We’ve been watching the resurfacing between the Academy and San Antonio Wyoming west of Albuquerque Academy for a few weeks. It’s been rough for a while after the scraping and new asphalt appears but was very poorly applied – we assumed it was temporary – so they painted stripes.

“I am concerned about the quality of the installation. There are unpaved, uneven sections – frankly the quality of workmanship was so poor that I hope the city at least didn’t pay full price. Would love to see what the city knows about this paving job and how quality is managed. »

The city says the work is not complete.

Scott Cilke of the city’s Municipal Development Department says, “We’re still working on planning the installation of thin asphalt. We have applied temporary strips to delineate lanes for drivers while we work to complete the rehabilitation. »

SPRUCE NORTH OF THE CENTER NO CITY PROPERTY: Ralph Chapman writes in an email “For months/years? the intersection (of Spruce and Central) was blocked and impassable northbound. Currently, there is no way to turn north from Central eastbound between Oak Street and University Boulevard.

“Could you know what the plans are for this location and if this will be fixed? I am in the area often and this is a problem. A traffic light is there, just nowhere to go.

And so it will be, at least for now.

Cilke says that “the area north of Central around Spruce is now privately owned and no longer in the city’s right-of-way. For this reason, there is nothing the city can do to reopen access to Spruce northbound from Central.

Editorial page editor D’Val Westphal tackles metro area commuter issues on Monday. Contact her at 823-3858; [email protected]; or 7777 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87109.