San Juan County eyes $2.5M grant proposals for new trails, County Road 350 improvements
Members of the San Juan County Commission will consider approving resolutions supporting more than $2.5 million in grant applications for a road-resurfacing project and the construction of new biking trails in the county during their Tuesday, Feb. 20 meeting in Aztec.
The county’s public works department has prepared an application for a grant for nearly $2 million to cover the cost of a cold milling and asphalt overlay project for County Road 350 between U.S. Highway 64 on the south and the intersection with County Road 3100/3720 on the north atop Crouch Mesa east of Farmington. The grant request for the 3.9-mile project would be submitted to the Transportation Project Fund, which is administered by the New Mexico Department of Transportation.
The project would require a 5% match by the county, according to a staff summary report. The county already has received a grant from the same fund to cover the cost of a similar project for the northern half of the road, which stretches 3.6 miles from County Road 3100/3720 on the south end to N.M. Highway 516 in Flora Vista on the north end.
In a cover letter for the grant application, the county’s public works director, Nick Porell, outlines the importance of the project by stating the road has the highest traffic volume within the San Juan County roads system. He cites figures from the Farmington Metropolitan Planning Organization that show the road had an average annual daily traffic count of 9,361 in 2019 and 7,648 in 2020.
The winding, four-lane road features a significant elevation gain and loss as it ascends and descends Crouch Mesa. It provides motorists with their only access across the Animas River between Browning Parkway in Farmington on the west and U.S. Highway 550 through Bloomfield and Aztec on the east.
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Porell states in his letter that the county plans to complete the first phase of the resurfacing of CR 350, the northern half, by 2025. If the county’s grant proposal is accepted, work on the southern half of the road would follow.
Commissioners also will be asked to approve a resolution supporting the county’s application for more than $500,000 in funding from the Federal Recreational Trail Program to pay for trail expansion projects at the Alien Run Recreation Area north of Aztec and the Angel Peak Scenic Area south of Bloomfield.
The county’s application calls for the construction of 12 miles of new trails at an estimated cost of $600,000, with the county being responsible for approximately 15% in matching funds, or a little more than $87,000. The application would be submitted in cooperation with the federal Bureau of Land Management’s Farmington Field Office, which oversees the land that would be used.
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Porell notes in his cover letter accompanying the grant application that the county has received Federal Recreational Trail Program grant funding for many projects in the past, and the planned improvements would be intended to capitalize on the success of those trails.
A highlight of the project, he states, would be a planned 6-mile connector trail between the Mountain View Trails System in Aztec and the Alien Run Recreation Area.
“Once completed, the combined Alien Run and Mountain View trail system will represent thirty-two … miles of dedicated single-track trail in a dedicated system,” he states.
The meeting begins at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the Commission Chambers of the County Administration Building, 100 S. Oliver Drive in Aztec.
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: San Juan County seeks $2.5M in grants for road, trails projects
