Construction set to begin (again) on Trinity Drive next week.
What's happening and how to stay updated.
Beginning next week, Los Alamos residents and commuters can expect to see orange construction barrels along Trinity Drive as traffic is reduced to one lane on each side to allow for construction work. There will be three projects impacting access to Trinity Drive:
Electrical work from the Department of Public Utilities along the north sidewalk of Trinity Drive between Oppenheimer Drive and Diamond Drive
The extension of Finch Street from the end of 35th Street out onto Trinity Drive
The Trinity Drive Safety and ADA Improvements Project from Oppenheimer Drive to Knecht Street
The electrical work began on June 15 and does not yet have an expected end date, according to the county.
Construction for the Finch Street project will likely begin within the month and is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
The Trinity Drive Safety and ADA Improvements Project — the most intensive of the three — will begin construction on July 6 and go through December 2026. However, Jennifer Morrow, the project engineer who spoke at the county’s public pre-construction meeting on June 16, acknowledged that none of these dates can be guaranteed.
“There are construction delays that are out of all of our control,” she said. These can be caused by weather, delayed delivery of materials, or unexpected items being dug up.
How to stay updated
The county has contracted with Patti Watson, president of CWA Strategic Communications, to be the first point of contact for anyone with questions or concerns about the Trinity Drive Safety and ADA Improvements Project. Watson’s contact information can be found on the county’s project page.
Residents, commuters, and business owners can also sign up for regular email updates on the project and send questions or concerns using this form provided by the county. Information on schedules and impacts of each phase of the project will be sent out through the form as they become available.
The county will hold additional public meetings in August and October to update residents on the project’s progress and receive public feedback. Morrow added that utility shutoffs required for construction can be scheduled to minimize impacts on businesses along the construction corridor, which is part of why public feedback is important.
“We know construction is going to be painful,” Morrow said. “We’re not here to tell you it’s going to be easy. But we can work together to try and minimize the impacts as much as we can.”
In the meantime, residents and commuters should plan for delays. Alternate routes through town are Canyon Road and Central Avenue. People traveling into and out of town from off the hill can also take East Jemez Road (the truck route) to avoid construction areas. At the meeting on June 16, Morrow said the county would consider putting an electric signboard at the bottom of the hill to notify commuters of this alternate route.
What’s changing?
The Trinity Drive Safety and ADA Improvements Project is the second phase of a longer project to improve road safety and accessibility along Trinity Drive.
The project began to address concerns raised after a road safety audit conducted by the New Mexico Department of Transportation in 2016. Phase one implemented a typical road diet — where two lanes of traffic on a four lane road are repurposed to create a two-way center turn-lane and extra space for bike lanes — between Oppenheimer and 39th Street to reduce collision points and improve traffic flow. This phase was completed in 2019.
The second phase, beginning this summer, will implement a “hybrid” road diet — repurposing one westbound lane to allow for wider sidewalks and bike lanes — between Oppenheimer Drive and Knecht Street. For an in-depth discussion of what road diets entail and how they improve road safety, see Boomtown’s previous story on the history of the project.
The “hybrid” road diet was chosen to preserve the two eastbound lanes on this segment of Trinity Drive. The two eastbound lanes allow for better access to the businesses on the south side of the road and ensure that traffic leaving town has two lanes to travel by during an evacuation, Morrow explained at the pre-construction meeting.
Phase two of the project will also include:
The addition of several medians between Oppenheimer Drive and Knecht Street to improve safety by marking turn lanes
The addition of a bus pullout near the Justice Center parking area
The installation of a Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon at the intersection of Trinity Drive and 20th Street to provide a safe site for pedestrian crossing
The widening of the sidewalk along the south side of Ashley Pond Park
A new water line from Oppenheimer Drive to 20th Street
Gas line replacements from 20th Street to Knecht Street
Electric line replacements between Oppenheimer Drive and Knecht Street
The water, gas, and electric line replacements are separate from the electrical work under the Department of Public Utilities that has already started between Oppenheimer Drive and Diamond Drive.
To ensure that access to the Friday night summer concert series at Ashley Pond is not disrupted, the sidewalk work along the south side of the pond will not begin until September or later, Morrow said. This sidewalk work is also separate from the electrical work that is impacting the sidewalk between Oppenheimer Drive and Diamond Drive.