East Mountain Trails & Bikeways Master Plan - Bernalillo County

1. Existing Population
The U.S. Census counted 18,162 persons living
in the East Mountains in 2000. Fifty-eight
percent lived north of I-40 and 42 percent south
of I-40.
shows the relative number and density of people
living in the East Mountain Area as well as
relative numbers of different age groups. The
map also shows points that correspond to
residential populations. The most populous and
dense areas are the Sandia Knolls area, the
Cedar Crest area and the Ponderosa Pine area
south along NM 337. The Sedillo area, Tablazon
area, County-line area and the NM 14 areas
neighboring the National Forest also have high
populations and densities. Higher populations in
these areas suggest a higher priority for certain
facilities. The relative numbers of school-age
children also suggest higher priority for the
development of facilities. School-age children in
the Cedar Crest, Sandia Knolls, Sedillo, Tijeras
and Ponderosa areas are a relatively large
proportion of the entire East Mountain population.
2. Population Projections (2025)
The population in the East Mountain Area is
projected to increase by 6,503 persons by 2025
to reach a total of 24,665 persons. More (61%)
will live north of I-40 than south (39%). Figure 8
shows the future projected population. Much of
the Project Area will grow more than 100 people
per DASZ, but the Paa-Ko and Campbell Ranch
subdivision areas are projecting the greatest
growth rates.
3. Land Use and Future Land Use (2025)
Figure 9 shows existing land use and future land
use for the projected growth shown in Figure 8.
Land use in the Project Area is currently still largely
rangeland. By 2025, however, a majority of the
acreage in the East Mountain Area is projected to
be residential. Many of the remaining usable
undesignated trails are on private land.
Section D. Public Roads and Rightsof-Way
The map in Figure 10 shows all roads and rights- ofway
(ROW) in the Project Area. A number of the
roads are currently unpaved or privately owned. In
contrast to these local roads, I-40, which bisects the
project area, is part of the interstate highway system
crossing New Mexico. The Project Area also
includes US 333, a segment of former U.S. 66, once
known as the “Mother Road.” The roads in Figure 10
are classified by surface type and ownership as
follows:
• Paved highway
• Paved roadway
• Unpaved public roadway
• Paved private roadway
• Unpaved private roadway.
Again due to the rural quality of the East
Mountains, only the state highways and certain
dedicated roads in the County and Village of
Tijeras actually have formal rights-of-way that
were dedicated or acquired in the process of
construction. Those roads outlined in gray in
Figure 10 have the standard County right-of-way,
and those in pink have the right-of-way
associated with state roads. Typically, these
range from 80 to 200 feet for the State Highways
(see Table 1) in the Study Area.
For dedicated County roads, the ROW varies
from 40 to 80 feet depending on whether they are
collector or arterial roads. Arterial roads are
limited to the State highways, Frost Road and
Mountain Valley Road. Other public roads that
are maintained by the County were developed
via prescriptive easement as a result of public
use and necessity over time. These roads have
a variable right-of-way associated with them that
is limited to the maintained area of the road from
v-ditch edge to v-ditch edge, and can vary from
approximately 12 to 40 feet. As discussed below,
some of these roads function as trails, and it is
the goal of this plan to preserve that function.
However, there may be segments of such roads
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EAST MOUNTAIN TRAILS AND BIKEWAYS MASTER PLAN