Top elected officials will weigh whether to close some roads permanently around the plaza.
SANTA FE, N.M. — Santa Fe city councilors are scheduled to vote on a new proposal that would limit vehicle traffic during the busiest times of the year.
Most of the roads around the plaza are already closed. This new proposal would only affect East San Francisco Street on the south side. The other three streets are already closed off to vehicles most of the year.
Two city councilors originally proposed automatically closing San Francisco Street along the plaza from Memorial Day to Halloween each year.
The city already closes Old Santa Fe Trail during the summer. The new proposal would permanently close Palace Avenue and Lincoln Avenue.
The city shuts down San Francisco Street close to 70 times a year, putting a strain on city resources, city councilor Alma Castro says. She believes implementing a yearly, temporary closure in the summer months will make it easier to host even more events at the plaza.
Castro also hopes to bring locals back to the heart of Santa Fe.
“We would like to really create a third space that is family friendly, that is really geared towards bringing locals back to our city center, because ultimately it’s a place that we lost,” Castro said. “My priority really is to create a safe and clean center of town for everyone and make sure that our community feels welcome in the center of town.”
City councilors amended the proposal Monday night. The amendment extends the temporary closures past Dia de los Muertos. It also designates handicap parking spaces, drop-off and pickup areas and vehicle loading zones.
Councilors also approved an amendment to keep one lane of San Francisco Street open throughout the proposed closures. The idea is to accommodate emergency vehicles.
“We just want to make sure that we have access to emergencies during whatever’s happening, right?” Santa Fe assistant fire chief Scott Ouderkirk said.
One city councilor had some pushback.
“I’m inclined to go with this only because of the emergency access but this does essentially invalidate the proposal. Leaving a lane open is almost no different than what it is now,” councilor Paul Bustamante said.
It appears previous efforts to reopen all four streets for cruising nights have been taken out of the bill. The full governing body is scheduled to meet Wednesday at 5 p.m. A final vote is expected then.
