Speed cameras and cell-phone bans
Council directs staff to bring back ordinances on road safety
Story and photos by Stephanie Nakhleh
Los Alamos County Council’s Oct. 22 work session laid bare the complex dynamics of addressing traffic safety in a town dominated by a federal science laboratory. Chief of Police Dino Sgambellone and Public Works Director Juan Rael led a discussion about road safety that came after two fatal crashes this year, including the September death of former Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Charles McMillan in a collision on NM 502.
Though the Council unanimously approved staff proposals to develop ordinances implementing speed cameras and banning handheld phone use, tensions arose as councilors pushed for swift action and staff voiced a more cautious approach to inter-agency coordination, particularly regarding the county’s limited authority over local roads.
Jurisdictional complexity emerges as key challenge
“A lot of ‘our’ roads aren’t actually ours,” Rael said, explaining that NM 502, for example, falls under state control. (NM 502, which stretches from Pojoaque to Los Alamos Medical Center, has a lot of names: Twin Tanks, Main Hill, and Trinity Drive — it’s all the same road.) Other commuter arteries like NM 4, Pajarito Road, West Jemez, and the Truck Route cross through multiple jurisdictions, including Department of Energy land, pueblo property, and multiple counties.
“These roads are within our county,” Councilor Randall Ryti insisted, pushing back against Rael’s jurisdictional concerns. While they may be state or federal roads, “our people use them — county residents and visitors.” Ryti cited the County’s existing advocacy for improvements to NM 4 as precedent. “We can’t act like we entirely have no influence. The state does listen to us when they’re in our county.”
“We’re not engaging with our counterparts”
While Rael acknowledged good working relationships with state officials, he made a striking admission: he and Police Chief Dino Sgambellone “feel we’re not engaging with our counterparts with LANL and DOE.” Rael then requested Council’s help in getting past bureaucratic quicksand: “Perhaps the only request of Council is, when those bodies are before you, just to sort of maybe make that a point too, so that way they’re hearing it on both sides?”
The fact that even department heads need Council’s political weight to get LANL’s attention to address traffic safety is notable, given that 67% of LANL’s 18,500-person workforce commutes to the Lab on these roads. Meanwhile, anxiety among those commuters is growing. Councilor Suzie Havemann reported that residents feel “more nervous than they used to about driving” and are changing their routes to avoid certain roads.
Speed cameras show promise as a potential solution
Against this backdrop of who’s in charge of what, and with safety concerns rising, Sgambellone presented an encouraging potential solution: speed cameras. Citing data from Albuquerque’s speed camera program, he said the measure showed an 80% reduction in dangerous speeding incidents. “I thought 8% was good,” he said, noting that he’d left a zero off his initial estimate. “Eighty percent! That’s substantial and would have a significant impact if we mirrored that.” He estimated implementing a similar program in Los Alamos would require about six new positions and considerable infrastructure investment.
In addition to the proposals for ordinances Council could pass in the coming months, staff identified possible changes categorized as “immediate improvements,” though the name may be a misnomer. Adding rumble strips and re-evaluating speed limits on 502 would require time and coordination, but they could theoretically show prompt results once implemented.
Community concern over dangerous driving
Community members expressed support for the proposed actions. Transportation Board Chair David Hampton endorsed the measures to introduce speed cameras and ban cell phone use. “If we want people to slow down and be more attentive, we are going to have to modify some of our road designs,” Hampton said. “As it is, many of our current designs encourage higher-than-posted speeds and give drivers a false sense of safety.”
A longtime school bus driver, Lisa Reader, raised concerns about stop-arm runners and speeding in school zones. A “stop-arm runner” is a driver who ignores the retractable indicator that tells drivers to stop to let school children cross safely after getting off the bus. “The last stop-arm runner I had over by Aspen scared the tar out of me,” Reader said. “The kids got off the bus, crossed the street, and a guy ran my stop-arms and darn near hit the kid. That’s the scariest thing for any driver.”
Resident James Wernicke said that four of the recent fatalities happened under perfect weather conditions, indicating distracted driving. “If you’re not going to put the phone down because you could die or kill somebody else, no other consequence really matters,” Wernicke said. He advocated increased pressure on LANL to reduce commuter traffic through shuttles and remote work options.
Immediate actions versus long-term coordination
The debate between immediate action and jurisdictional limits intensified when Ryti pressed for physical barriers where recent fatalities occurred. “We had two fatal crashes this year...regardless if somebody was texting, they would have run into the barricade,” Ryti said.
Ryti’s point invoked principles referenced in an update on the Los Alamos County Pedestrian Master Plan, which incorporates state and federal best practices for transportation safety, such as the Safe System Approach and Vision Zero strategy. These frameworks assert that all traffic deaths and serious injuries are preventable by minimizing the harm from human error through safety improvements like the barriers Ryti inquired about.
Rael resisted Ryti’s request, explaining that installing what he called “positive lane separation” measures like concrete jersey barriers is not easy. The county must coordinate across jurisdictions, secure funding, and manage projects sequentially. Rael’s carefully measured response revealed underlying frustration, as he noted that the NM 4 crossing at Mirador, a Council priority, “isn’t even on their [DOT’s] radar.”
Balancing swift action with systematic change
Against this systems-level discussion, Councilor Havemann advocated for cultural transformation. “I would like to see us get to where we have a culture of intolerance for careless and distracted driving,” she said, comparing it to how society’s attitudes toward drunk driving and seatbelt use have evolved over time.
The approved measures direct staff to develop speed-camera and cell-phone ordinances, evaluate immediate improvements, review speed limits, and engage with other jurisdictions. Yet the discussion kept running into institutional hurdles. Each proposed measure must navigate a complex web of jurisdictional authorities, with county staff serving as intermediaries between the Council’s mandate for action and federal agencies’ different priorities and timelines.
“The intent of the motion is that we’re very serious about this,” Ryti said during the final debate. Council seemed determined to overcome jurisdictional obstacles that have historically slowed safety improvements. The evening’s discussion suggested that transforming political will into actual road safety improvements will require interagency coordination and a fundamental shift in how local, state, and federal entities collaborate on public safety issues affecting the Los Alamos community.
Wildlife collisions add another layer to safety concerns
While improving the safety of commuter arteries does require the complex maneuvering staff described, other facets of road safety may have simpler, local solutions. Wildlife collisions remain a serious concern, with 62 car v. animal crashes in 2023 and 48 through September 2024. Chief Sgambellone pointed out that these crashes are related to the proclivity in Los Alamos for feeding wildlife. “You heard from Game and Fish in terms of the potential to reduce things like this with some sort of feeding [ban], not inviting the animals into the populated areas,” he said.
In December 2023, the County Council voted against a ban on feeding, opting instead for an education campaign. However, a fuller discussion of the wildlife angle on road safety, including a presentation from NM Game and Fish, is expected sometime in December 2024. Meanwhile, staff will begin developing implementation timelines for the approved actions, including public engagement plans, though specific dates haven’t been set yet.
Time to do it
Speed cameras sound so good!