DOE-LASO, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Los Alamos County reach agreement on traffic control enforcement

Contact: Kevin Roark, knroark@lanl.gov, (505) 665-0582 (03-091)

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., July 16, 2003 -- The Los Alamos National Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos Site Office, and the County of Los Alamos have reached an agreement that allows county police officers to resume enforcement of state and local traffic laws on NNSA owned roadways in and around the Laboratory. The Memorandum of Agreement was ratified by the Los Alamos County Council last evening.

Enforcement was halted in November 1999, largely because some traffic control devices and roadway configurations did not meet the standards under the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). NNSA and the Laboratory have worked to correct any MUTCD nonconformance issues so that Los Alamos County police officers can now resume enforcement on Lab roadways.

Beginning July 15, 2003, officers will enforce all state laws and county ordinances related to traffic on the following NNSA owned roadways:

• Diamond Drive from the north end of the Omega Bridge to the intersection of Diamond Drive and Pajarito Road.
• Pajarito Road from Diamond Drive to NM 4.
• East Jemez Road (the truck route) from Diamond Drive to the Los Alamos County line.
• West Jemez Road (NM 501) from Diamond Drive to NM 4.
• West Road from Diamond Drive to intersection with West Jemez Road.

Under the MOA, NNSA will continue to maintain traffic control devices on the Laboratory's roadways in compliance with MUTCD standards. The greatest benefit of the MOA is that it will provide a mechanism for a continuing, cooperative relationship between the Laboratory, NNSA and the County for maintenance of appropriate traffic control devices and police enforcement, which will improve traffic safety. For more information on the resumption of traffic control enforcement contact Charlie Trask of the Facilities and Waste Operations Division at (505) 667-7756.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy and works in partnership with NNSA's Sandia and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories to support NNSA in its mission.

Los Alamos enhances global security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health and national security concerns.

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