(...) (View Projects) Rail Trail
The Albuquerque Rail trail celebrates the city’s layered history and culture with an eight mile hike-and-bike trail encircling the heart of Albuquerque. The Trail honors the past and present, weaving core neighborhoods together, along a safe, well-lit, earth toned concrete spine.
Cultural nodes, punctuated by “auras”– combinations of steel gateways and graphic collages – mark moments in Albuquerque’s cultural history and guide walkers and cyclists around the loop. The perforation patterns of the rusted steel gateways represent icons unique to the surrounding neighborhoods.
At the Central Crossing, a tumbleweed marks the moment where the trail intersects historic Route 66. Throughout the day and night, the trail’s twenty-four-hour choreography of light and shadow unfolds, with each pedal stroke or step offering residents and visitors a renewed Albuquerque experience.