County road safety debated at Roosevelt commission

PORTALES — Roosevelt County commissioners debated options for making a county road safer during their Tuesday commission meeting.

Commissioners and county officials have debated the fate of Roosevelt Road Q 1/2 for several weeks.

Their concerns center on the road’s danger — both to drivers and a family living adjacent to the road — when drivers speed and fail to properly navigate a deep pit in the road.

“I’m more worried about the Haleys getting hurt then anybody falling into the bar ditch, in my mind,” County Road Superintendent Ricky Lovato said. “One day, we’re going to have somebody inside that house with their car.”

“Somebody’s gonna end up getting killed. It’s gonna happen,” said Commissioner Dennis Lopez.

Funds for fixing the road are not currently in the budget, County Manager Amber Hamilton reminded commissioners, so “there will be an impact at some point on our budget of an unknown amount.”

The following are the options Lovato presented to commissioners Tuesday:

• Option A : Leaving the road open from Seventh to 18th Street and putting rumble strips every 100 feet before the stop signs. There will be more than 500 concrete barriers lining both sides of the road to keep the bar ditch closed, and flashing lights preceding the stop signs ($375,000 cost).

• Another version of Option A includes less concrete barriers lining the sides of the road from the bottom of the dip to 400 feet back, then from there to 18 Street would be K-rail barriers. This plan also includes the flashing lights and rumble strips ($135,000).

• Option B: Placing concrete barriers on the north side of the entrance to the Haley family residence, so the family can still get out to Seventh Street, then placing a barricade at 21st Street, so people can come up to a stop sign on 21st Street where they can make a right turn going west. There would be a lot of signage in this plan as well, and a dead end where people would be able to turn around and come back out on Roosevelt Road 6 1/2 ($290,000; $66,000 with K-rail barriers instead of concrete).

• Option C: Putting barricades on the south side of the trailer houses on the road. People would have to turn on 21st Street, which would leave the road open for residents to be able to get on and off the road. The road would also be blocked off to where people would have to turn on South Roosevelt Road A. There would be a barricade right at the dip, but the Haley family could still exit and go south ($31,165).

Sheriff Malin Parker sided with closing the road, but admitted his perspective may differ from others.

“In my experience with the crashes my guys have worked out there, closing it is the best option,” said Sheriff Malin Parker. “I don’t live out there, so it’s easy for me to say close it. I’m just looking at it from a crash standpoint. I just don’t think there’s a way of stopping the crashes there, no matter what kind of barriers or anything else you put.”

County residents who live on the road also weighed in on the options.

Stacey Haley said Option B, which would require a road built behind the trailer homes her family owns, is not a good option for her family, because they cannot afford future maintenance of the road.

“We’re just committed to working with the county. We’re open to working with your suggestions. We don’t want to see anybody get in an accident,” Haley said, adding that Option C would likely be her preference for the plans to the road.

Commissioner Shane Lee suggested county officials meet with the Portales City Council to see if it could assist the county with making Option C come to fruition.

The other commissioners agreed, and Hamilton said she would speak to city councilors and ask for a future agenda item on the subject.