ABQ Times

This evening, the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners took a significant step by approving a financial resolution to allocate $4.5 million from the Road Fund's balance. This decision aims to support pavement preservation efforts across various districts within the county.

The county's road projects are mainly funded through general obligation bonds, which voters approve to support transportation infrastructure initiatives. The Road Fund is composed of revenue from franchise fees, gasoline, and motor vehicle taxes. It functions like a savings account to manage unforeseen emergencies or unbudgeted costs.

According to the county’s pavement preservation program, a cost-effective and proactive approach is employed to extend the lifespan of roadways through preventive treatments. These treatments depend on factors like pavement type, traffic levels, and environmental conditions and include methods such as crack fill, fog seal, chip seal, micro surfacing, recycled asphalt pavement, and overlays.

Once the $4.5 million is appropriated, it will be transferred to the operating budget to facilitate procurement for upcoming projects across the county. Some of the projects identified include recycled asphalt pavement and microsurfacing on several roads such as Frost Road from NM 14 to the end of the county limit, Moriarty Road with a micro-option instead of paving, and areas like Tramway Terrace subdivision and Tennyson from Elena to Paseo Del Norte.

Other applications like fog seal are planned for the Monte Cristo Subdivision, and Kabrico Court and Brianan Court, with chip seal operations supplying materials for 10 miles of roads to be done by in-house crews.