From North Paseo de Peralta to Manhattan Avenue, Guadalupe Street now has one travel lane in each direction and a center turn lane where it used to have four lanes. It also has new medians, accessible sidewalks, five-foot bike lanes, updated signals, new storm drainage and LED street lighting. The City of Santa Fe's project page lists the Guadalupe Street Road Reconstruction as fully funded at $10,286,157. The roughly two-year project wrapped up in late summer 2025.
The street was built for people on foot, and a year later fewer of them are using it. The physical project is finished. What happens next on this stretch depends on whether foot traffic comes back, and the city's own data and the shops along the corridor point that way.
What the counters found last summer
The city hired a consultant for a post-construction safety analysis, which went to the City Council's Public Works and Utilities Committee on Aug. 31, 2026. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that the report calls the project a success, but its traffic counts tell a different story than the redesign's goals.
| Measure, June and July 2026 counts | Compared with before construction |
|---|---|
| Pedestrian traffic | Down about 34% |
| Bicycle traffic | Down about 25% |
| Vehicle speeds | Generally consistent with the 2014 safety assessment, marginally higher in some locations |
The report itself raised a possible explanation and recommended more study. It wanted to know whether the decline comes from the project or is "a remaining decrease as a result of route detouring that occurred during construction." If detours are the reason, the lost walkers are people who found other routes while sidewalks were closed and never switched back. That is a habit problem. More concrete won't fix it.
The same report credits the project with addressing many of the problems flagged in the 2014 assessment and with improving "the pedestrian environment, multimodal accessibility, and downtown character."
The crossings that are still missing
The habit explanation doesn't account for everything. According to the New Mexican, the analysis lists further improvements that may be needed, including more pedestrian islands and crosswalks. Some of those were in the original design but were never built. Business owners told the paper that the reconfigured street has long stretches with no crosswalk and no place to make a U-turn.
For someone on foot, that changes the walk. Wider sidewalks make it easier to move along one side of the street. Fewer crossings make it harder to work both sides in one trip. Ken Kordich, who runs The Good Stuff/Café Vinyl, told the New Mexican the wider sidewalks are a plus. He also said there have been fewer accidents at Guadalupe and West San Francisco Street since the redesign added a turn signal there, and that business at his shop is slightly above where it was when construction started. Metropolitan Planning Organization Director Erick Aune told the committee that communication with business owners was one of the project's biggest shortcomings, and that the city will be more proactive on future work.
One December night showed the demand is there
Last winter the city tried a fix that skipped the roadway altogether. The first Guadalupe Street Winter Walk ran Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, from 3 to 7 p.m., between Manhattan Avenue and Paseo de Peralta. Canyon Road Productions, which also runs the Canyon Road Summer Walks, produced it with support from Tourism Santa Fe and the city's Office of Economic Development and Arts and Culture Department. Nearly 50 businesses took part. The program included a farolito parade, wreath-making at Oldies Flowers, a holiday dog fashion contest at De Vargas Park judged by the Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society, and Santa Claus parked in a 1957 Chevy. The city put about $47,000 toward it.
People came. Julie Grace, co-owner of Remix Coffee, told the New Mexican that the walk was the business's busiest day ever. She also said it brought no repeat customers.
"I hope the people come down to Guadalupe for this event and for future events like it, just to hang out."
Scott Baird, co-owner of Wolf and Mermaid Enchanted Roasters on Johnson Street, said that to the New Mexican before the event, when he was also hoping Guadalupe could become "another Canyon Road." One packed night showed people will turn out for the street. What the corridor needs now is the ordinary weekday visit. As of late October, the city's Guadalupe Street corridor page says "There are no upcoming events" and lists only the 2025 walk. No 2026 edition has been announced.
A walk for an ordinary afternoon
Here is the corridor on an average day, north to south with a few side streets, using the addresses and hours the businesses and local press have published. Hours change, so check before you go.
- Hook It Up, 109 N. Guadalupe St. This fish and chips counter comes from chef Sean Sinclair and the Eldorado Hotel & Spa. Before this location, Hook It Up existed only in Albuquerque's Sawmill food hall. It sits in the small building next to Il Vicino and across from Concrete Jungle, and Sinclair fries Hoki. When it opened in August, the Santa Fe Reporter wrote that it was closed Mondays and Tuesdays and could sell out.
- Bakery Feliz, 130 N. Guadalupe St. It took over the former Wild Leaven space, which moved to CHOMP. Bakery Feliz opened at the end of 2023, just before the second phase of construction began. Its site currently asks customers to visit Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
- REMIX Audio Bar, 222 N. Guadalupe St. This combination coffee house, ramen kitchen and DJ Dojo sits in the former Fire & Hops building. Its ramen menu was developed with chef Joel Coleman. The Santa Fe Reporter reported in October that hours are now Wednesday through Friday evenings.
- The Good Stuff/Café Vinyl. Books, records and coffee on the corridor. It is the shop whose owner described the sidewalk and intersection changes above.
- BoulTawn's Bagelry, Cafe and Gallery. It has baked bagels, pastries and quiche in a small Guadalupe storefront since 2020. Go in the morning.
- Dinner for Two, Guadalupe and W. Water St. A sit-down dinner with its own lot on Water Street.
- Wolf & Mermaid Enchanted Roasters, 239 Johnson St. A coffee stop one block off Guadalupe. It takes online orders.
- Collect, 343 W. Manhattan Ave. A gallery and shop at the south end. Its co-owner has called the location "particularly tucked away."
About half a mile away, the New Mexico Museum of Art's Vladem Contemporary has Linda Mae Tratechaud's Window Box installation, "The Promise (Or, A Resting Reality Room of Her Own)," on view through Jan. 4, 2027. Live activations are scheduled for Nov. 14 and Dec. 19, both from 10 a.m. to noon. Pair a Saturday morning activation with a late breakfast on Guadalupe and you have the kind of repeat visit last December's walk didn't produce.
Why December matters for this stretch
The next eight weeks bring several changes. REMIX owner Justin Ray told the Santa Fe Reporter that the business in its current form will likely wrap up when the lease ends in December, and that he and Julie Grace have been considering a pivot toward the DJ side. That means the evening ramen counter at 222 N. Guadalupe has a limited run in its current form.
The Santa Fe Farmers' Market's Tuesday Railyard market holds its last session of the year on Dec. 22, 2026. The Saturday market at 1607 Paseo de Peralta continues year-round, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. On Saturdays, the market and the north end of Guadalupe are a short walk apart.
SWAIA's Winter Indian Market returns Nov. 28 and 29 at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. For last year's Winter Walk, the city told visitors to park in the Railyard or Convention Center garages and walk Guadalupe from there. That plan still works on a market weekend. The walk from the Convention Center to Paseo and down to Manhattan Avenue covers the full three-quarter-mile corridor.
Where a street sits in a neighbor's routine shapes how a neighborhood feels to live in. That matters to us whether we're advising someone on a home near the Railyard or a client who wants to be close to downtown. If you'd like to talk through the blocks around Guadalupe and how they fit the way you live, Rachele Griego would be glad to walk them with you. Let's connect.
