Taos merchants begin recouping losses after 5-year road project ends

TAOS — One of the most ambitious road reconstruction projects in Taos history reached its conclusion last month — three and a half years past its original projected end date and to the tune of $21.9 million, according to the New Mexico Department of Transportation.

Local merchants, however, say that price tag doesn’t account for potentially millions more in lost revenues their businesses are just beginning to recover this summer after more than five years of disruption along the town’s main artery.

“It was like a ghost town around here because we didn’t have two-way traffic, and the sidewalks were getting done,” said Kristeena Smith, owner and barber at Hitching Post Shave Co. on U.S. 64. The road is known as Paseo del Pueblo Norte in Taos before it turns westward toward the world-famous Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. “There was no foot traffic. Walk-ins were decreased by about 75%.”

A few blocks south of Smith’s shop, Taos Silver Co. owner and silversmith Emilio Vigil also cited heavy losses.

“There was constant noise and less access to my business,” Vigil said. “I was down about 60% in sales from previous years, so it was pretty significant.”

The N.M. 68-U.S. 64 Roadway Construction Project rebuilt and widened the roadway, constructed new sidewalks and added Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant ramps along Paseo del Pueblo from La Posta Road to Camino de La Placita at the northern edge of Taos Historic District. That’s where numerous art galleries, jewelry shops, hotels and other businesses form the backbone of the local economy.

El Terrero Construction, the Rio Rancho-based company the state contracted to complete the project, began the first of four phases of work on the southern end of the district in March 2020, less than a week after the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in New Mexico.

In addition to pandemic-related delays, the project also encountered several stoppages due to unmapped utility lines road workers encountered as they inched their way northward along Paseo del Pueblo, according to NMDOT spokesperson James Murray.

“The public utility lines that were not on any maps or plans were unexpected and caused delays,” Murray said in response to questions submitted by the Journal this month. “Once the contractor identified a utility line, the owner of that line had to be called in to move it out of the way before the contractor could proceed.”

Another hiccup came in June 2023 when crews inadvertently severed a fiber optic cable between Los Pandos Road and Quesnel Street, causing a county-wide internet and cellphone outage that lasted for two days. The extended disruption rendered point-of-sale systems inoperable and hamstrung other critical business operations, including the rural area’s growing remote work sector.

While the road work scheduled stops each year when low winter temperatures prevented fresh layers of asphalt from setting, local residents criticized the project for its slow progress even during the warmer months. The Taos project’s myriad delays and extended timeline recalled other protracted NMDOT projects, like the N.M. 68 Roadway Improvements Project in Española between U.S. 84/285 and just north of Po’Pay Avenue.

Mante Chacón Jr., who operates 50-year-old local fast-food eatery Mante’s Chow Cart, was in the path of the first and second phases of construction in Taos. He said his business entered into a legal dispute with the state over the roadway’s expansion into his property’s former parking lot, where NMDOT claimed an easement.

“They took a little bit in the front and then some along the river,” Chacón said. “And it’s not that much property, but we don’t have much property to begin with, so everything that they took was kind of dramatic. It’s hard for us. We ended up having to get an attorney and had to settle last month because they drew it out since 2019 all the way to 2025.”

Asked about how businesses were impacted in Taos over the duration of the project, Murray said, “both the NMDOT and El Terrero tried to minimize the disruption as best as possible.” He did not respond to a request for comment regarding Chacon’s claims.

Compounding business owners’ concerns, Taos announced the reintroduction of paid parking in the Historic District last May without public input, ending roughly a decade of free parking that many business owners said helped bring more customers to their doors and made it easier on employees earning service-sector wages.

After a series of stops and starts last year, the town decided to keep parking free until the roadwork had finished. Most recently, Taos Mayor Pascual Maestas announced at a June 9 town council meeting the meters would remain inactive until August or later.

In further recognition of business disruptions arising from the protracted road construction project, Taos also launched a small business grant program last September to help offset revenue losses.

Still, the town reported in February that Taos visitorship had dropped 7.1% in 2024, according to Datafy, which the municipality uses to track its analytics. That month, Taos Marketing and Tourism Director Rima Krisst reported that roughly 75% of the tourist town’s visitors come from out of state, providing critical business sales and tax revenues. Krisst did not respond to questions from the Journal regarding how the town has fared since the construction ended last month.

But from his vantage near the town’s central intersection at N.M. 68 and Kit Carson Road — named for the famous frontiersman whose house still stands a stone’s throw from Taos Plaza — Vigil said the difference in business activity in downtown Taos is “a night and day situation” compared to the last five years.

“Now that the construction is gone and the sidewalks are open,” he said, “the traffic flow is just twice as good right now from what it was.”

Smith, who’s hosting her fifth-annual Taos Roundup concert series on July 4 to support local businesses, said it’s clear tourists had been waiting alongside local merchants and residents for the road construction to end.

“It has definitely picked up since the roadwork ended,” she said. “We’ve got two-way traffic now. The sidewalks are done. With summertime, there’s definitely more tourists walking about and into the shop.”