Part of a West Old Town ditch trail is now open, but a connection to Mountain is TBD

July 20, 2021

Ryan Lowery

West Old Town residents now have a little more access to the Alameda Drain, but only a little. Fences have recently been removed between Zearing and Carson, but that still leaves residents without the ability to reach Mountain without first going east to Rio Grande.

So when might it connect to Mountain, where relatively quiet streets lead directly to the botanic garden, El Vado, and the river? That’s much less clear.

Willie West, who oversees the area for the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, said the project is stalled as his agency talks to neighbors in the area and solicits more feedback.

“There have been some objections raised by some of the neighbors in that location,” West said. “The board of directors has requested that other neighbors be contacted.”

West Old Town Neighborhood Association board member Michael Scisco said he’s aware of the concerns, which appear to be the subject of a door-to-door petition.

“They came to our door, but we weren’t home,” Scisco said. “So I didn’t sign it, and I wouldn’t have because I think the ditches should be open.”

While no one is quite sure when the fences were first put in place, most agree it was sometime in the 1970s, following concerns over illegal activity and accidental drownings.

Scisco calls that reasoning outdated, arguing that allowing more people to access the ditch will reduce the chances of someone using the area for nefarious activities. In fact, since the fences between Zearing and Carson have come down, Scisco said he’s seen people using it to walk their dogs, and he’s already seen a decrease in one rather dramatic type of illegal activity.

“Before the fences came down, I saw guys on Aspen shooting their guns towards Carson, doing target practice,” he said. “That hasn’t happened since.”

Besides providing more local access, opening the trail south to Mountain could potentially serve as a key link in a larger revamp of how pedestrians and bicyclists travel between Old Town and West Old Town. An already-funded plan for Rio Grande calls for a new crossing near Aspen, more efficiently connecting to the bike trail south of I-40.

Scisco, for one, is excited for the day he can ride his bike down to Mountain and over to the bosque, and he’s equally excited about the prospect of someday having access to the BioPark and other attractions along Central. But while the MRGCD is planning on it, it seems unlikely to happen soon.

“Overall I’m happy with what has happened,” Scisco said. “I really appreciate MRGCD — what they did, how well they did it, and how transparent they were.”