Saturday, November 07, 2009

City To Make Temporary Road Repairs

By Rosalie Rayburn
Journal Staff Writer
          Limited funding has forced Rio Rancho to make stop-gap repairs on roads in newer parts of the city.
        City Manager James Jimenez said he's aware that resurfacing work on some roads like Enchanted Hills Boulevard is not a long term fix, but the city decided to prioritize spending in older parts of town where some roads are in worse shape.
        "We knew and still know that road improvements in this community are in excess of dollars available. We had to make choices," Jimenez said.
        Voters in March approved the city issuing $25 million in bonds for road projects. A list of more than 30 road projects compiled by city staff included repair options with varying costs.
        City staff then held public meetings to gather comments from residents about the projects.
        The city is doing full reconstruction work on Western Hills Road and Nicklaus Drive, in the southwest part of town.
        On those streets, contractors will strip out the asphalt, fix the base course and relay new asphalt.
        The city elected to do a less extensive and less costly procedure on Enchanted Hills Boulevard, which is in a newer neighborhood. The city awarded a contract to Intermountain States to do repaving work on Enchanted Hills between N.M. 528 and Torino Hills Road.
        The work is designed to improve the "drive-ability" and safety of the road surface for between five to seven years, Jimenez said.
        "Preventive maintenance is not intended to be full reconstruction or to give the life expectancy of full reconstruction," he said, "It's just to extend the life knowing that we may have to do full reconstruction later."
       

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