FROM ANTONIO SANCHEZ | OBSERVER STAFF WRITER

Shovel-wielding city officials marked the beginning of the Broadmoor Boulevard extension between Northern Boulevard and Paseo del Volcan with a ceremonial groundbreaking Tuesday.

With an audience of about 40 city officials and employees on hand, Mayor Gregg Hull joined Deputy Mayor and Councilor Dawnn Robinson and other officials for the event.

The project will construct a two-lane paved road between Linderhoff Avenue and Paseo del Volcan, with a crack-seal and overlay for the existing section between Northern and Linderhoff Avenue.

A temporary signal will be installed at the intersection of Idalia Road and Broadmoor Boulevard. A traffic signal will also be placed at the intersection of Paseo del Volcan and Broadmoor.

“Years ago, the city identified the need and value of extending Broadmoor Boulevard from Northern Boulevard to the City Center area,” Hull said. “In that time, there has been diligent work to make that idea a reality.”

The project will cost $3.25 million, with funds coming from a grant from the New Mexico Department of Transportation, the city’s higher education facilities gross receipts tax and from city impact fees.

 

The Rio Rancho Governing Body voted last month to award a $2.68 million contract to Franklin’s Earthmoving Inc. to complete the extension. Wilson & Company, the project designer, will receive $316,460 from the city to provide project oversight. The city also will spend $254,343 to relocate public utilities in the area.

Hull said the extension will create a new north-south entrance to the heart of the community and improve access to the City Center, UNM West and CNM, Sandoval Regional Medical Center and Santa Ana Star Center.

“Very rarely does extending one roadway accomplish so many things, and that is what makes this project so special,” he said.

The project is slated to be finished in December.