Mayor Chavez announced on August 13 and the City Council approved on August 17 an agreement with the Richardson administration and State Department of Transportation to use $25 million of federal stimulus funds, and an additional $7 million of city funds, for Lead Coal redesign. $4 million of the city funds must be approved by voters as part of the bond issue on the October 6 ballot. The funding will allow: 1) construction of the entire corridor, from Washington to Broadway, as one project (although, of course, one section at a time); 2) construction to start as early as late 2009 or early 2010; and 3) construction to be completed perhaps by the end of 2010.



Wilson and Company are finalizing the design phase of the project and have been meeting with property owners along the corridor to involve them in the planning for work along their homes. Any property owner who has not yet met with Wilson and wishes to should contact Savina Garcia at sgarcia@wilsonco.com. Questions or comments about the project can emailed to Ms. Garcia or to Joseph Aguirre, UHA board member, jaguirre_87106@yahoo.com.

Lead Coal re-design will: 1) incorporate multiple elements to improve roadway safety; 2) landscape both sides of both streets all along the corridor; and 3) incorporate multiple enhancements for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Plans for the project can be accessed online at ftp.wilsonco.com. (NOT http). Username: wcea Password: wcea-ftp once you are logged on go to "Lead Coal 95% DRC." A Block by block roadway plan is in Section 3. You may have to make multiple attempts in order to log on. Section 3 documents may be temporarily unavailable if they are being revised.