As construction on Central Avenue chugs along, many student shuttle riders are having to set their alarms a few minutes ahead.
The Albuquerque Rapid Transit project began in the fall of 2016, and aims to decrease commute times by increasing foot traffic and modernizing Albuquerque’s public transit system.
In the meantime, students who ride the shuttle are heading out the door earlier to make it to class.
Alyssa Aragon, a freshman business major, takes the shuttle every day to and from Lobo Village.
“I might not see a regular shuttle service until my junior year. It’s just kind of frustrating,” she said.
During the peak of construction last semester, she noted the shuttle had to change its route which caused “at least” a five-minute delay in the commute.
“Being a student trying to get to class on time and having to walk after that really affects how early you need to leave your room, to get to the shuttle, to get to class,” she said.
Aragon said a friend alerted her of the route change, and there was no notification from UNM.
Prior to construction, Aragon said she left for the shuttle about 30 minutes before class started. After construction began, she needed to leave about 45 minutes before, and she couldn’t count on a shuttle picking her up or predict how long it would take to cross the construction.
Even after months of work, the congestion hasn’t lightened.
In fact, construction at the intersection of Central Avenue and University Boulevard has heightened traffic recently, directly influencing the UNM community, said Barbara Morck, director of Parking and Transportation Services.
“The intersection work at the start of 2017 has been particularly impactful as the buses are having to queue up in the single-lane on westbound Central so they can make their turn onto southbound University,” she said, noting that high traffic levels at the intersection cause further delays for shuttle riders.
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Joanie Griffin, the public outreach coordinator for ART, said the start of the semester hustle hasn’t helped ease traffic either.
Cheyenne Gurule, a senior architecture major, expressed some dissatisfaction with the project.
“I think it’s a huge inconvenience in traffic and even pedestrian walking,” she said, noting she just avoids the shuttles and Central traffic “at all costs.”
Junior construction management major Alex Paz has been riding UNM shuttles for two years and feels the construction is unneeded and makes his commute slower.
“If they would have increased the amount of buses coming in that would have fixed it,” he said. “It’s annoying. Even just driving on Central and everything is bad.”
Paz said when the shuttle route changed last semester, he didn’t receive any notification.
Despite the lack of notifications, ART project engineers and planners have communicated with UNM since initial project planning, according to Griffin.
Managers have also communicated with UNM departments “no less than twice a week” to ensure all construction information is distributed to the community.
Zachary Morrell, a sophomore computer science major, has been riding the shuttle for one semester.
“The shuttle bus takes a lot longer. You can tell from the first semester when there was no construction the buses moved a lot faster and were a lot more efficient,” he said.
Morrell also noted the traffic issues cost him about five minutes each way on his commute and predicted, even after ART’s completion, traffic would “stay about the same as it is right now.”
As for UNM-related traffic, Morck predicts an influx in car traffic on Redondo as drivers avoid congested areas, and mentioned that shuttles will be “challenged” in making the turn onto westbound Central.
Despite construction woes, UNM will see new features when construction is completed, Griffin said.
“UNM students, faculty and visitors will be able to access ART at two stations by the University – the Cornell Station and the University Station,” she said.
Brendon Gray is a news reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @notgraybrendon.
