Carlsbad gets $1.1M federal grant to begin design of Dark Canyon Bridge
A federal grant of $1.1 million propelled the city of Carlsbad to move forward on a preliminary design of a $23 million transportation project to improve safety in an area where heavy flooding killed a man in 2021.
The grant is for a proposed bridge and bike path across Dark Canyon Arroyo, said Carlsbad Municipal Services Director Angie Barrios-Testa.
The bridge would be placed along Boyd Drive and Radio Boulevard where a man was killed two years ago after he drove a vehicle through a barricade as flood waters rushed down the Guadalupe Mountains to the Pecos River, according to city documents.
Completion of the project is estimated to happen in June 2026, according city reports.
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The bridge grant was one of 166 projects awarded funds in 2022 as part of the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Discretionary Grant program from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).
Barrios-Testa said the city was waiting for the full grant from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) since the municipality and the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) signed an agreement.
“We plan to start the project once the agreement (with FHWA) is signed. The team will begin meeting to implement as soon as possible but we anticipate it will be in the coming weeks,” she said.
The Carlsbad City Council accepted the RAISE grant Sept. 12 and Barrios-Testa noted in September 2022, the grant process would be lengthy.
“During the grant agreement development process, the City of Carlsbad requested NMDOT as the pass-through agency to assist in managing its fiscal year 2022 RAISE award. NMDOT has concurred and will be a party to the grant agreement,” she wrote in a memorandum to councilors.
The project’s cost could reach $23.3 million, as $3 million in NMDOT funds were acquired last year to study the land around Boyd Drive and Radio Boulevard, Carlsbad Deputy City Administrator KC Cass said.
He said the RAISE grant money would fund the preliminary design of the project.
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John Augustine, USDOT director of infrastructure and finance, in a letter to the city said the bridge would cross the Carlsbad Irrigation Canal and the Dark Canyon regional drainage.
“By conducting comprehensive planning for this new bridge, including planning for long-term maintenance, the project will create more choices for non-motorized transportation, and use sustainable construction techniques that will significantly limit flooding across the region and improve the condition of the corridor,” according to A USDOT news release from 2022.
Once complete the Dark Canyon Bridge could reduce traffic congestion, increase traffic safety, promote resiliency and better disaster preparedness during extreme floods, according to the USDOT.
Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: USDOT grants Carlsbad $1.1M for early study of Dark Canyon Bridge
