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Location of bypass to connect I-40 and U.S. 550

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A bypass that would connect I-40 and U.S. 550 northwest of Albuquerque is getting its start as a $6 million, dead-end, gravel road to nowhere in Sandoval County.

For the time being, the road will stop at the border of Sandoval and Bernalillo counties, because it is being built primarily as a way for Sandoval to keep its rights over the land.

In Sandoval County, most of the rights of way for the bypass were donated in the early 1990s, with the condition that the original owners could reclaim the land if it had not been developed within 15 years.

"That clock is ticking," said Gayland Bryant, a Sandoval County spokesman. "With the escalating prices of land, that right of way is becoming more and more valuable."

The completed bypass would run 42 miles from U.S. 550 north of Bernalillo to I-40 near the Route 66 Casino.

With four lanes, it could cost as much as $175 million, said Lawrence Rael, executive director of the Mid-Region Council of Governments.

It is important to have the road in place before the surrounding area is developed, to prevent planning and traffic problems similar to those that have plagued Rio Rancho, Rael said.

The road would also relieve congestion at the Big-I and encourage economic growth in areas surrounding Albuquerque, Bryant said.

Bryant said the total cost of the gravel road, which will be 28 miles long, is about $6 million. The cost is somewhat high because the thoroughfare will have to include drainage ditches and arroyo crossings.

So, using $950,000 awarded by the Legislature this year, the county began construction on the two-lane road earlier this year.

A federal spending bill being considered by Congress includes $956,000 for the road, and Bryant said the county plans to seek an additional $2 million from the state during the 2008 session.

The rest of the money would come from the county, Bryant said.

He said the county hopes to finish the roadwork by 2009.

Meanwhile, Bernalillo County has done no work on its portion of the bypass, said Tim West, Bernalillo County deputy manager for public works.

The county bought a right of way for the bypass several years ago using state money, he said, but has no plans to develop it.

"Since then, we've basically been waiting to turn it over to the state when they want to do something with it," he said. "There's no active project; there's no funding; there's no effort to do any of the design."

Larry Velasquez, state Department of Transportation district engineer for the Albuquerque region, said the bypass is not a priority for the department.

But Rael said the gravel road will be more than a dead-end street into the desert.

Although most of the area along the road might not be heavily populated for another 25 years, by then it would be too late to carve out an efficient path, he said.

"I think it is an investment that is worth having," Rael said. "I don't know that it's the ideal scenario, but I would say that you have to plan this far out with these major facilities."