Eddy County officials held a presentation and discussion Monday at Artesia High School to introduce the Eddy County Master Transportation Plan.
Bohannan Huston, an engineering company based in Albuquerque, is working with the county on the project. Even though the plan is not yet finished, residents of Eddy County were invited to share their opinions and offer ideas for plan completion.
Previously, employees of Bohannan Huston went to Wal-Mart and Albertson’s in Carlsbad and interviewed 70 people about the plan.
The responses included a desire for better road conditions and maintenance, heavy trucks causing damage to roads, unsafe driving conditions due to trucks, locations of truck traffic, and a desire for bicycle facilities and trail connections.
The plan’s current draft has six goals and objectives thus far, including evaluating the need for expanded capacity within the county, coordinating decisions on capital improvements and maintenance, addressing right-of-way status on all county roads, improving safety throughout the transportation network, considering public transit and bicycle facility opportunities, and encouraging and supporting regional coordination on transportation planning decisions.
During the presentation, Denise Weston, senior planner at Bohannan Huston, discussed a list of roads the company currently feels could benefit from road construction. The roads include Loop Bypass Road, Illinois Camp Road, Old Cavern Road, Standpipe Road, Four Dinkus Road, Dark Canyon Road, Hagerman Cutoff, Black River Village Road, Derrick Road, and Buck Jackson Road.
The cost of construction for all 10 roads is approximately $70 million. According to Weston, the company and the county based the construction need for these roads on crash data, traffic volumes as they exist, national bridge inventory, hospital and medical center locations, state and federal park locations, school and college locations, municipal and county boundaries, and surface ownership.
Anyone interested in discussing concerns or opinions about the project may contact Weston at 505-923-3321 or dweston@bhinc.com prior to Feb. 15. Bohannan Huston would like to compile all public comments before submitting a final draft to the county commission this summer.
