The City of Santa Fe and the Santa Fe Metropolitan Planning Organization are working with Santa Fe Public Schools to turn a frequently used dirt trail connection into an all-weather paved route to El Camino Real Academy for students and community members living in the Cottonwood Village Mobile Home Park.

Community members are invited to attend a public meeting to learn about the preliminary planning process for the project on Thursday, February 16, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the El Camino Real Academy gym at 2500 South Meadows Road. The presentation will be given in English and Spanish. Public comment will be accepted during the meeting itself, through a comment form distributed at the meeting, or by sending comments to Romella Glorioso-Moss at rsglorioso-moss@santafenm.gov. Presentation materials and the comment form will be made available on the City’s website a few days after the meeting.  

Background: The City's Public Works Department and Office of Affordable Housing have secured Community Development Block Grant funding for the trail from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. These funds are immediately available for this project, and construction for the trail connection could begin in the fall of 2023. 

This new trail connection would provide a 0.4-mile paved route to school without major street crossing for students living in the area, and coincides with Santa Fe’s Safe Routes to School Program launched in the fall of 2021 by the Santa Fe Conservation Trust. El Camino Real Academy has been an active participant in the program and currently organizes a weekly "walk-or-roll-to-school" from Cottonwood Village with staff support. Studies have shown walking or biking to school can increase academic performance, reduce absences, and help students reach recommended levels of physical activity.