Road closures are causing headaches for residents whose neighborhood has filled with traffic trying to find alternate routes.
Closures on Osuna Road between Second Street and Fourth Street have detoured traffic to nearby north Valley Road where people said their once-quiet roadways look more like highways.
“This is a small little road and people should respect the fact that,” Justin Hodge, who lives on Willow Road in Los Ranchos, told KRQE. “It’s not designed to have the amount of traffic that is on it, and that is why there are no thru traffic signs.”
Traffic is also a mess on Osuna Rd. Since its closure on February 27, drivers have continued to go down the road which is only open to people who live there. The closure eventually forces people to make a U-turn and try the next street, Willow Rd.
Large vehicles, including semi-trucks, ignore the “No-thru” signs creating a parade of U-turns. Both Willow and Vineyard roads, built for small residential traffic, are being used as arteries to get around Osuna.
“Since the ‘no thru’ road signs were put up, it hasn’t had any impact either; people just drive around them,” Hodge said. “They are going to have to use some road, and they are more than likely going to use ours because it’s the closest to it.”
A spokesperson for the Village of Los Ranchos told KRQE drivers should use Montaño or El Pueblo as alternate routes. Meanwhile, the Village of Los Ranchos hopes to have Osuna reopened by this weekend. Crews are completing utility and sidewalk installations for The Village Center, a multi-use development.
Excessive traffic was among the reasons why some Los Ranchos residents opposed the high-density developments in their neighborhood. The Village Center will be located at the southeast corner of Osuna and Fourth Street and will also feature a grocery store, restaurants and retail spaces. It will also include more than 200 apartments which neighbors said contradicts the community’s rural character.