Community college road project completes after 20 years of planning and 20 months of construction

August 28—Santa Fe County has completed a multimillion-dollar project aimed primarily at improving the road network around Santa Fe Community College to facilitate better traffic flow in a key growth corridor for the area.

The plan, called the Northeast-Southeast Connecting Roads Project, which took 20 months to build and is the result of 20 years of planning, was recently completed. It includes three new road segments totaling nearly 4 miles and six new roundabouts to “direct traffic sustainably (and) alleviate traffic in the community college district,” said county spokeswoman Olivia Romo.

“The community college district was chosen because this is where the county is focused on developing adequate roads, sewers and fiber. It’s a hub,” Romo said. “… This is where we’re directing most of the growth in Santa Fe County so that we don’t have urban sprawl.”

County officials characterized the project as one that will help open up areas south of the city to support future, planned development, while calling it the county’s “largest road project to date.”

The project involves an investment of $22.8 million in roads, $2.4 million in water pipeline infrastructure and $1.85 million in broadband. It will also divert traffic that has been going through Oshara Village. The county paid for most of the project using highway funds and general obligation bonds, while the state Department of Transportation funded one-third of the project costs, according to a Santa Fe County news release.

“The completion of this road system marks an important milestone for our community as it greatly improves the efficiency of travel to and from the Community College District,” County Commissioner Hank Hughes said in a news release. “This project not only improves connectivity, but also supports the county’s growing area and educational hub.”

The project includes widenings of Rabbit Road, Avenida del Sur and Oshara Boulevard, as well as a rerouting of Dinosaur Trail onto Richards Avenue. There are six new roundabouts, including one at the intersection of Richards Avenue, Rabbit Road and Dinosaur Trail.

The county began planning the project more than 20 years ago to ease traffic congestion, particularly along Richards Avenue. Curt Temple, director of the county’s projects section, said the first expenditure for the project came in 2012.

“We finished this a month ahead of schedule…on budget,” Temple said.

Officials identified a need based on the area’s lack of connectivity and sought to refine poor intersection geometry and improve the safety of pedestrian access to the existing and new trail network, according to a Northeast Southeast Connector Road project website.

The implementation of new infrastructure could also help attract developers to the area.

“I’ve also talked to a couple of developers and they’re already looking at building apartment complexes near the university,” Temple said. “Single-family homes will be built in that area. There will probably be quite a bit of development now with this new road.”

Romo said some development projects planned for the corridor have been contingent on project completion.

“Now that this road is finished, we’re going to look at some projects that were on the waiting list and now they’re going to start being built,” Romo said.

The project includes 7.6 miles of new bike lanes, 6.4 miles of new trails, 8,175 feet of new water line including new fire hydrants, and 2.5 miles of broadband infrastructure.