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NW Loop Road: Taking Us for a Ride

The infamous Northwest Loop road is back on the minds of engineers, developers and politicians in the metro region. The NM Dept. of Transportation sent a letter to area stakeholders announcing a public meeting that will be held in Rio Rancho on Feb. 10 to discuss planning and construction of the NW Loop Road.

The proposed right of way heads north from I-40 (more than five miles west of Paseo del Volcan) then doglegs east to connect with US 550 (the road to Farmington) almost 40 miles later. [see full map below]

The letter doesn't gloss over the purpose of this road to nowhere, "the proposed transportation corridor is considered necessary to provide future roadways and other transportation infrastructure that will help facilitate orderly growth and development and access areas within Bernalillo County and Sandoval County planned for development."

As if that isn't absurd enough, the reasoning continues, "In the longer term, the proposed transportation corridor will also provide a safe and efficient outer beltway for the expanding Albuquerque and Rio Rancho metropolitan area."

The letter doesn't estimate costs for the project, where the money will come from or a timeline for design, approval and construction. This road has been promoted by Rio Rancho boosters for years. Now, it may be that SunCal, who owns most of the land along the proposed route within Bernalillo County, may be helping push this project more quickly through the pipeline. It's only conjecture, but the way things work around here, I wouldn't be surprised.

What's unclear is whether State officials are trying to get the project "shovel-ready" so Federal Stimulus dollars can help pay for it.

I can think of few bigger wastes of money than this project. It seems totally out of proportion, with little justification and way ahead of a lot more worthy projects. I'd like to know what's the rush? What existing circumstances make this road even remotely a priority?

Is the region at all committed to reducing Greenhouse gas emissions and the growing rate of vehicle miles traveled fueled by land/water-hungry sprawl development? Appearently not.

I suppose I'll be sending in my comments and questions, as the letter suggests, to Steve Reed, NMDOT Environmental Program Manager, PO Box 1149, RM 213, Santa Fe, NM 87504-1149. If you are equally outraged, I suggest you do the same.

Tags: Change, Climate, Developers, Sprawl, Transportation

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Comment by slamwagon on February 5, 2009 at 2:49am: In my letter should I describe the project as horse or bull shit?

Comment by Johnny_Mango on February 5, 2009 at 2:33pm: Stay on this, Gabriel Nims!
Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Comment by ABQrising on February 5, 2009 at 3:44pm: I hate it when orderly growth and development is absurd.

Comment by Sarahjmd on February 5, 2009 at 4:23pm: This area of the country is more poised for growth than any other. I am both glad and sad about that. But can't the future of this rising metropolis hold a better solution than just another beltway? Been there, done that...all over the nation. And folks are choking on the exhaust.

There are other options to move lots of people around. They have a big open slate out there on the range. Just for example...have they learned nothing with the short history of the popularity of this RailRunner? DUH!

Comment by shotsie on February 5, 2009 at 4:47pm: It'll make it easier for RVers to go from the Route 66 Casino to the Santa Ana Casino. That's worth $400 million or so....

Comment by Michael Cadigan on February 5, 2009 at 5:24pm: We could have a NW loop by simply connecting the existing Paseo del Volcan to Southern Blvd. in Rio Rancho for a about 1/400 the price. The existing PDV is the dotted line on Gabes' somewhat blurry map. This new project is so far west that it will be of no use to anyone in Albuquerque or Rio Rancho. If you live in Ventana Ranch or Rio Rancho and want to go to UNM or Downtown Abq, why would you swing out to the Rio Puerco then head East on I-40 when you can just drive down I-25 or Coors. This thing is madness.

Comment by ABQrising on February 5, 2009 at 6:04pm: PVD to Southern sounds like a cost efficient idea, but kind of runs against the "freeway" concept of this purposed loop. PVD to Southern would probably turn into something like Tramway hooking up with Paseo del Norte in the Far NE Heights. Not a bad idea. It'd be fast, I guess, but untrue to the "freeway" spirit of the purposed loop.

I'm not sure a loop road out in yonder is a super sweet idea. I'm not opposed to highways, and I don't think you need an exit every two miles to justify building one, but why build this before you parse out the PDV/Southern option? I'm thinking maybe we try a little walking before we start running.

And, if we're going to do this loop now, today, then how about we just go ahead and toll this thing up. I mean, if you really need to get to 550 that bad, why don't you cough up $4.50 and help a taxpayer out. Big-I traffic isn't that bad... and, really, there ought to be a price paid for passing up the opportunity to gawk at the ugliest paint combo in Hilton Hotel history (makes the Journal Center Marriott look like the Louvre).

Comment by ABQrising on February 5, 2009 at 6:14pm: FYI...when surfing the Google Maps and scoping out 550, Unser Blvd. all of a sudden changes to "NW Loop NE" at 550.

The Google has spoke. It must be so.

Comment by Kenny on February 5, 2009 at 6:17pm: I'm guessing this loop road is not necessarily to move traffic from one end to the other, but rather it's to provide a way for all the new residents in all the new developments to get in and out. The writing is on the wall. We're going to have sprawl all the way over the escarpment and up to the banks of the Rio Puerco. I give it 25 years.

Comment by ziaMatt on February 5, 2009 at 6:22pm: I like it. The future will be here before know it. Better to have the a road built before you need it than to wait and complain about the congestion. Using PDV is the same thinking that got us Coors with way too much traffic.