Santa Fe bicyclists and pedestrians have different ideas about how they should be able to cross the corner of the city's busiest intersection.

City officials were leaning toward a pedestrian/bicyclist overpass of St. Francis Drive about 100 feet north of Cerrillos Road — extending the Acequia Trail, linking the two sections of the Santa Fe Railyard and reuniting the west-side neighborhood split by the construction of St. Francis Drive in the 1960s.

But at the first public hearing on the idea Thursday evening at Alvord Elementary School attended by more than 80 people, so many speakers expressed dissatisfaction with the concept that city planners emphasized that an underpass and at-grade crossings remain possible options.

Tim Rogers, who lives in the area, said he preferred an at-grade crossing to an overpass because "I'm not that interested in climbing."

But he said the current system of pedestrian crossings of St. Francis/Cerrillos is not that bad.

Mary Chavez, who lives on nearby Agua Fría Street, said she preferred an overpass to an underpass.

"I would be afraid to go under a tunnel," she said. "We definitely need a crossing, but I would like a bridge or overpass."

Margaret Alexander said she had heard from residents in Albuquerque, which has several pedestrian/bicyclist bridges, that "overpasses tend not to be used because people don't want to go up."

She added, however, that Tucson, Ariz., has an attractive overpass shaped like a snake.

Richard Czoski, executive of the Santa Fe Community Railyard Corp., said whatever is built there will be one of the first impressions for future visitors to Santa Fe.

"In many ways, this is the gateway to our city," he said.

Marilyn Bane, president of the Old Santa Fe Association, asked for planners to use "real creativity" in whatever they design.

"I'm very worried about an overpass," she added. "I do not want to see this city looking like Albuquerque."

Bobbi Summer, who said she often rides a bicycle through the area, said the plan should address pedestrian and bicycle crossings of Cerrillos Road as well as St. Francis.

"Crossing Cerrillos is sort of a death-defying act," she said.

Jennifer Wellington White said St. Francis Drive can be dangerous, too. She was seriously injured June 9, 2007, when a car struck her from behind as she pedaled north on St. Francis on her way to the Santa Fe Farmers Market.

A woman using sign language identified herself only as Heidi, the wife of the superintendent of the New Mexico School for the Deaf, and said she just wants whatever is safest for the deaf students.

She said the path needs to be wide enough for both pedestrians and bicyclists because "when we're walking, we can't hear a bicycle coming," said her translator.

Many people seemed taken aback when Ivan Trujillo of the Louis Berger Group, the city's design consultant on the project, estimated that to provide a grade gentle enough to meet federal guidelines on the 16 1/2-foot-tall overpass, the western ramp would have to be 800 to 900 feet long.

Dave McQuarie, a longtime local advocate for the disabled, reminded him that skateboarders would love to use such a ramp.

Leroy Pacheco, a city planner on the project, said if an at-grade crossing were built, it would have flashing stop lights that could be activated by pedestrians. An at-grade crossing could be built across St. Francis as an extension of the Acequia Trail or the trail could be diverted 100 feet south to the main intersection of Cerrillos and St. Francis, he said.

Barbara Fix suggested that the trail be diverted through the deaf school's orchard rather than following the existing sidewalk.

"I will not use an overpass," she added. "I want to be able to go at ground level."

Sagemaya Dandi, who described himself as an advocate for bicycling, complained that despite Santa Fe's growing system of trails, there are few connections between them. He said the city needs a bicycle/pedestrian coordinator.

The Cerrillos-St. Francis intersection, Santa Fe's busiest, has been further complicated by the new Rail Runner Express commuter train, which crosses the intersection diagonally several times a day.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.