Mayor Keller, Councilor Borrego Announce Paseo Del Norte Improvements

June 11, 2019

Today, Mayor Tim Keller, Albuquerque City Councilor Cynthia Borrego, and state legislators announced funding, and the launch of improvements, for the Unser and Paseo del Norte corridor to help Albuquerque’s growing westside.

Currently, these roadways are being overburdened and the area is poised for greater growth in the coming years. To meet future need, key intersections and roadways on Albuquerque’s westside need to be able to handle between 150,000 to 300,000 or more vehicles per day. Currently, these roadways are only able to handle just over 20,000 cars per day right now, which causes congestion and adds to driver frustration. These regional arterials are part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Plan Area (AMPA) system of roadways and will be redesigned and built for future growth and to move large amounts of traffic. Additional considerations include road widening make them more accessible by emergency vehicles. Intersections connected to Paseo Del Norte and Unser in this area currently only have one lane in each direction.

“Our city is growing and that growth has to be met with expanding roadways that help our drivers get to and from work, school and around town safely and efficiently,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “These major intersections are important to the entire metropolitan area and we are glad to work with our state legislators and city councilors to bring this needed infrastructure to the westside.”

“The project was initiated by residence of District 5 who indicated a need for the expansion of Paseo del Norte from Kimmick to the City limits at several of my District 5 Open House meetings.  Currently, public safety is a significant issue due to this lack of roadway capacity.  This $3 million dollars of state and federal funding will begin the design phase of the expansion and the City will be seeking additional funding for phased construction.  Thank you to all of the State Legislators and City Councilors who allocated funding to this important Westside project,” said Councilor Cynthia Borrego.

Roadway improvements will include the following:

• Updated and improved intersections at Paseo Del Norte from Calle Nortena to Rainbow Rd.
• Updated and improved intersections at Unser Blvd. from Kimmick Dr. to Paradise Rd.
• Roadway widening along Unser Blvd. and Paseo Del Norte, currently one lane in each direction
• Sidewalk, bicycle lanes and multi-modal transportation improvements

Total cost of improvements along this corridor is expected to cost $20 million. State legislators have helped with $2.1 million in capital outlay funding and, working with District 5 City Councilor Cynthia Borrego, the City identified $750,000 from 2012 city infrastructure money to help with starting the design and purchasing critical right-of-way infrastructure.