City officials are getting close to choosing how to build a new pedestrian and bicycle crossing for St. Francis Drive just north of Cerrillos Road, but people attending public meetings on the issue continue to have widely divergent views.

A bridge or overpass seems to be the choice of city officials and contractors because it would be cheaper and would cause fewer impacts than a tunnel. But most people at Thursday evening's hearing favored a tunnel or an at-grade crossing.

Others like Jim Mafchir suggested the planners "shift your emphasis" and consider improving the more heavily used Santa Fe Rail Trail's north-south crossing of both Cerrillos Road and St. Francis Drive.

"These are beautiful designs for all three alternatives," he said. "But I feel you took your eye off the ball."

Frank Herdman asked if city officials had considered the maintenance problems a tunnel might present with odors, a lack of light, homeless people taking shelter inside and possible crime.

But tunnel advocate Margaret Anderson said studies show that tunnels are no more dangerous or problematic than sidewalks. She said Albuquerque pedestrians often just "dash across" streets rather than climb stairs to cross on an overpass.

Dan Baker suggested looking more closely at at-grade solutions. The "bowl" terrain along the Acequia Madre would make a tunnel there subject to flooding and a bridge would require a "circuitous" entrance to reach the minimum 17.5 foot clearance above St. Francis, he said.

Roy Roth, Jake Barrow and Tim Rogers also favored an at-grade crossing. Pedestrian tunnels in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area have drawn transients and a bridge would be "the most visually invasive" alternative, Roth said. "You don't need to dash across," Rogers said. "You just need to be patient, stop in the middle and then be patient again."

Robert Benon said that although a tunnel would be virtually invisible, a bridge would be "more of a statement that there is a trail here." But Fletcher Catron said someone he regularly rides to work with "would never use a bridge because he really feels nervous in high places."

Barbara Fix questioned whether city staff already has made up its mind and suggested that people who live near the crossing be consulted and that the city Bicycles and Trails Committee should consider the matter next. City officials said the committee would soon be consulted.

Bob Gaylor suggested the city consider crossings for both the Rail Trail and the Acequia Madre Trail at the St. Francis/Cerrillos intersection. "Take the eye patch off," he said. "Do both instead of just one."

Ken Hughes said that although regular bicyclists might prefer an at-grade crossing, recreational bicyclists, pedestrians, parents with small children and others would benefit more from a tunnel. A bridge would become a "white elephant" the first time a vandal tossed a rock from it at a passing car, he said.

Santa Fe Railyard Community Corporation board member Gilbert Delgado and Richard Czoski, executive director of the group, seconded the tunnel idea.

This was the second public hearing at Alvord Elementary School on the St. Francis crossing. No time has been set for city staff to make a recommendation to the City Council. About 50 people were at Thursday's meeting, down from about 80 at a February meeting.

Herdman, a bicyclist who regularly commutes to work in downtown Santa Fe from his home on Via Robles Street, said later that although he arrived at the meeting favoring a bridge, he left "pro-tunnel."

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