Boulevard and a form-based code may come to Albuquerque

Stefanos Polyzoides of Moule & Polyzoides Architects led a charrette in late September that recommended developing a multi-way boulevard on Broadway east of downtown Albuquerque and preparing for eventual light-rail service on Central Avenue, one of the New Mexico city’s main thoroughfares. Less than a month after the charrette, a neighborhood organization announced that Central Avenue’s problem-plagued Gas Lite Motel, reportedly the site of more than 1,800 police calls since 1991, would be redeveloped as a mixed-use residential-commercial project — a big boost for the area. Developer Rob Dickson has already converted the long-vacant Albuquerque High School at Broadway and Central to loft apartments (see “High school conversion spurs downtown revival,” March 2003 New Urban News). Other redevelopment has also been taking place in the area, which is now being dubbed East Downtown, or “EDO.” Recommendation in the EDO plan include: — Adopting a form-based code with four zones: Corridor General, Corridor Preservation (covering a historic district), Street General, and Street Preservation. Each zone would have a one-page summary code showing building placement on the lot, massing, parking locations, allowable building types, and allowable frontage types. — Conversion of Broadway from a four-lane road with left turns and parking on both sides into a multi-way boulevard with 12-foot sidewalks. Tree-planted six-foot medians would separate the three center lanes from the local travel lane and the parking lane along the perimeter. — Conversion of Central Avenue from four lanes plus turn lanes and parking into a traditional avenue, with one travel lane in each direction and on-street parking on both sides. In the center would be a new 24-foot tree-lined “alameda.” (Alameda, derived from the Spanish word álamo, or popular tree, refers to a public promenade bordered with trees, which is a tradition in New Mexico and even more prevalent in Mexico.) The alameda would accommodate left turns and could later be converted into a two-track light rail line or a modern streetcar right-of-way if funds can be obtained. — Replacement of some traffic signals with roundabouts. The 20-year plan, which also includes housing and about 400,000 square feet of commercial space, will be before the city’s Planning Commission in January.