Los Alamos County reinstalls jersey barriers at Ashley Pond for safety

Los Alamos County Public Works crews put jersey barriers back along the southern edge of Ashley Pond Park on Saturday, May 16, trading a cleaner look for a wider safety buffer before hundreds of people return for summer concerts and other downtown events.

The county said the concrete barriers are meant to protect spectators gathered at the pond during the busiest outdoor months in Los Alamos, when the park edge meets Trinity Drive and pedestrian traffic tightens around one of the town’s most visible civic spaces. County employees are also working with a professional landscape architect on a permanent solution that would keep the safety barrier in place while better matching the park’s historic and aesthetic character. Dave Krueger, the county manager’s office public information officer, was listed as the contact for the announcement.

The timing lines up with the 2026 Los Alamos Summer Concert Series, which begins Friday, May 22, and runs every Friday through Aug. 28, 2026. The concerts are scheduled from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Ashley Pond Park, 2300 Trinity Dr., Los Alamos, NM 87544. The county describes the series as free, non-ticketed and family-friendly, with a food court, games and a beer garden, all of which will draw crowds to the pond’s southern side and the sidewalks along Trinity Drive.

The barriers are part of a pattern at Ashley Pond. Temporary jersey barriers were also placed near the park in 2025 for public safety during events, and county crews later removed concrete barrier walls along Trinity Drive behind the sidewalk between 20th Street and Oppenheimer Drive in September 2025. The changes have drawn concern from some residents about how the barriers affect the pond view and the main sidewalk, while others have said the public safety need outweighs the visual cost. Ashley Pond itself carries deep local history: it is named for Ashley Pond, founder of the Los Alamos Ranch School, and the ice house on the southern bank remains a memorial to the ranch school days and Project Y.