Long awaited Piñon Hills Boulevard extension in Farmington begins in March

If all goes according to plan, San Juan County motorists should finally have another option for getting across the Animas River in the Farmington area within the next two years, as the Farmington City Council has approved a construction contract for the first phase of the long-awaited Piñon Hills Boulevard extension.

During a Jan. 30 special meeting, councilors unanimously approved a motion to award a construction contract of nearly $37 million to AUI Inc., an Albuquerque-based contractor, for the 1.1-mile, five-lane project. David Sypher, the city’s public works director, said during the meeting he is projecting the work will take approximately two years when it starts in March, meaning it likely will be late winter or early spring of 2026 before the extension opens to traffic.

The city received $40 million for the project from the American Rescue Plan Act in August 2022, but it already has spent millions of dollars on environmental assessments and right-of-way acquisition, whittling down the balance of that grant. City Manager Rob Mayes said that leaves an estimated shortfall of $4.9 million for the project, but he said with Tuesday’s vote, the city is fully committed to building the extension.

Mayes said city officials have been given reason to believe there is a chance the project will receive additional funding from the New Mexico Department of Transportation or the stage Legislature in the form of capital outlay funding. But he said there are no guarantees of additional grants.

“And, so, we could, on the back end of this, be looking at about a $5 million match …”  he said.

Mayor Nate Duckett said the prospect of the city having to come up with that amount of money to finish the extension didn’t bother him.

“It’s a small price to pay, I think, when we look at the magnitude of this project and the opportunity that lies before us,” he said.

More: City, state officials announce $40 million in funding for long-awaited road project

Farmington officials have dreamed of extending Piñon Hills Boulevard south from East Main Street across the Animas River for the better part of 30 years. But they lacked the money to get the project started until the American Rescue Plan Act funding became available nearly two years ago. They celebrated the city’s receipt of the funding with a press conference outside the Farmington Museum at Gateway Park along the banks of the Animas River, a gathering that included Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

“This is exactly the kind of work we should be celebrating in every single community,” she said during the Aug. 19, 2022, event.

AUI submitted the lowest bid of the three contractors who submitted a proposal for the project. This phase will extend Piñon Hills Boulevard south only to County Road 3000 south of the Animas River. Later phases of the project, which are the responsibility of San Juan County, will extend to County Road 390/Wildflower Parkway and eventually to U.S. Highway 64.

A former mayor's greatest regret

When it is finished, the road will provide motorists ― especially those who live on the west side of Crouch Mesa ― with a new option for getting to and from Farmington. Currently, there is no road over the Animas River between Browning Parkway on the west and County Road 350 on the east — a distance of at least 6 miles.

Tom Taylor, who served as mayor of Farmington from 1986 to 1998, said the idea of extending Piñon Hills Boulevard south over the Animas River came up midway through his tenure, with the project originally priced at $4.2 million — approximately one-tenth of its present-day cost. He said part of the reason for that low price was the fact that a landowner who had much of property on Crouch Mesa had indicated his willingness to donate the right of way to the city for the project.

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Taylor said he was very pleased to see the extension finally become a reality.

“It is a milestone,” he said. “It was my greatest regret of everything in my tenure we didn’t get this done then.”

Taylor said Piñon Hills Boulevard north of East Main Street was built during that era, as was Browning Parkway, which would provide essentially the only access across the river in that vicinity aside from the U.S. Highway 64 business loop that runs on the south side of downtown.

The new project will add another river crossing to that inventory of options.

“It’s a long time coming to get this done, and it’s still going to take awhile,” Taylor said.

Meeting in the middle?

In a Jan. 31 interview with The Daily Times, Sypher said a meeting between city officials and AUI officials will be held after the contracts are signed to iron out the details of the construction schedule. He said he anticipated that the contractor would have crews working on the extension from both ends and perhaps even have another crew operating in the middle to speed the process.

“That’s the only way to do it, in my opinion,” he said.

Sypher said he expected work on the county’s portion of the project to be delayed about a year after the start of work on the city’s segment.

Devin Neeley, the county’s spokesman, said the design of the county’s work is progressing to a 90% review by officials at the New Mexico Department of Transportation. As that process unfolds, he said the county also is obtaining right-of-way permissions for the construction and maintenance of the planned road.

Sypher said by the time the work is completed, local motorists will have “awesome” access to Crouch Mesa.

“This takes care of our present-day needs, but it’s really powerful in what it does in the future,” he said.

Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Farmington Council approves $37M Pinon Hills Boulevard extension