Council receives update on relief route plan
By John Earp
At the December meeting of the Jal City Council, representatives from the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) and Stantec briefed those in attendance regarding the relief route (truck bypass) that has been studied by Stantec for about four years. The study design phase has included the city administration along with NMDOT and Stantec Mr. Maxwell, the Stantec representative, mentioned the importance of developing as many alternatives as possible to determine the most viable route, with the proximity of NM-18 and the railroad being a major issue, with Stantec’s job being to try to “get the biggest bang for the buck” and “then identifying the funding.” He said the project is estimated to be “somewhere around the neighborhood of $20 million.” He said that “balancing the needs and wants and identifying the funding” is important, adding, “there’s only so much money to accomplish that.” He said “It’s not easy to obtain that funding, and we’ve been working with the city on trying to do that.”
With regard to the Jal Relief Route project, Stantec’s website says, “The City of Jal faced a difficult situation as heavy truck traffic, crashes, and fatalities have increased across the area. Within downtown, congestion was rated as an F at two intersections with NM 128 and traffic times had increased dramatically. Without mitigation, congestion and the level of service were expected to worsen as Jal’s growth pushed roads to their limit. That’s where we came in.
The protection of the City’s residents guided the urgent need for a truck relief route study and its subsequent construction. Our team took on this study and are looking for ways to alleviate the issues. We’ve identified both build and no-build options to route traffic around downtown or connect to other corridors. Another consideration was a railway crossing that backed up traffic when trains came through. Our team coordinated with the railway to identify a new crossing area that would negate the backup. While still ongoing, the project has encompassed National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, federal guidelines, and New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) standards.”
Maxwell said, “With a project like this, there’s no way possible that you can do it without negatively affecting some people. Just no way that you can do it. There always comes a time whenever you have to get a consensus to do what’s best for the community as a whole, rather than just a few individuals, and that’s a lot more difficult than it seems to be.”
Traffic analysis mentioned by Maxwell from 2019 varied from 5800 to 10,100 vehicles per day on Highway 128 through town, with 20-33% of that traffic consisting of heavy commercial trucks, with Jal’s 2021 population being 2110. Maxwell said, “So, it’s obvious that the city is being overwhelmed by traffic from the outside. You know, you’re right in the middle of all the oil and gas activity that’s going on, and it’s creating a lot of traffic, especially heavy truck traffic.” Maxwell said Stantec’s computer models show that about half of the traffic through Jal would be diverted toward the proposed relief route, with transit time through Jal via Highway 128 taking as much as 70 minutes at times of peak traffic.
The present pavement condition on Highway 128 is of course very poor, with the heavy traffic problems only expected to worsen, according to Maxwell. Another complication noted was the frequent use of alternative routes through Jal on roads that are not designed for heavy truck traffic. The proposed 6-mile relief route would include two driving lanes with eight-foot shoulders, with turning lanes at intersections. Alternative routes for the proposed relief routes were briefly mentioned, with the present plan coalescing in a route that would travel north of Highway 128 beginning near the Jal Airport, traversing north of the Jal Country Club golf course, through private and public lands and ending with an intersection with Highway 128 on the west side of town. Maxwell said that the 90% design plan would likely be submitted in mid January. He noted right-of-way would have to be acquired, followed by appraisals and legal real estate work that is associated, but there is no money in the grant fund left to acquire right-of-way for 95 acres of private land along the proposed route. He said, “If the city decides to go forward with the project, then the right-of-way would need to be acquired and city funds would be needed for that, unless you are able to get a grant of some kind to do that.” He said he was not sure what the cost would be for that.
Councilor Chacon asked if the reroute mandated by the Bureau of Land Management was archaeological. Maxwell replied that the BLM had “instructed Stantec not to say exactly what it is,” stating that only that they are doing a cultural research survey. Mayor Aldridge said that, “It was pretty interesting stuff, but they said, ‘You can’t go there.’” At the conclusion of Maxwell’s presentation, Mayor Aldridge said, “We need to decide as a body if we want to go ahead and finish the acquisition of those right-of-ways.” City Manager Wes Hooper said he estimated it would take “four to five years” to complete construction of the relief route. At present, funding is yet to be acquired for construction of the proposed relief route.
Councilors Richard, Chacon, Seifts, Ward, and Trevino were present, as well as Mayor Aldridge.
