NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The metro-area’s big plan prioritizing which major road projects should come next is facing an overhaul. That’s because the planners behind it say New Mexico has changed a lot since the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Five years ago, the Mid-Region Council of Governments’ Metro Transportation Plan (MRCOG) outlined a list of big projects across Bernalillo, Sandoval, Torrance, and Valencia counties. However today, the latest 20 year outlook shows the prior goals may have to change after the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped New Mexico. “One, you know remote work, and it’s more than just work, I think people are taking meetings, they’re doing more shopping, more business from home, classes from their desktops, so less travel in general,” said Kendra Montanari, Transportation Planning & Technical Services Manager for MRCOG.
Road project costs have also skyrocketed between 20%-30% more since 2020. “NMDOT sits on all of our committees and we make sure that all of their priorities are also included in the plan. The plan when it is approved will have a final project list and any NMDOT projects that are receiving federal funding will have to be in that list,” said Montanari…