Mayor Keller and Community Leaders Break Ground on Downtown Marquette Crossing

ALBUQUERQUE – Today, Mayor Tim Keller and City leaders broke ground on the first, at-grade railroad crossing in downtown Albuquerque in many decades. Construction on the new Marquette Crossing, located at Marquette and the railroad tracks, starts this week. The crossing will accommodate vehicles, bicyclist and pedestrians and will help connect east and west downtown.

“For years, walking and cycling across the railroads tracks in downtown Albuquerque has not been safe or accessible,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “The Marquette Crossing will give everyone better access to east and west downtown businesses, kicking off our downtown Rail Trail revitalization.”

This project begins the work to develop a Rail Trail, a vibrant and artistic urban trail that will run from Lomas Boulevard to the Rail Yards. Connecting east and west downtown is part of a larger push to revitalize downtown Albuquerque and provide more accessibility to residents and visitors to enjoy the city’s local businesses.

“The railroad crossing at Marquette has been a long time coming,” said City Councilor Isaac Benton. “I really want to thank the local community and Mayor Keller for making this long term vision a reality.”

"The Marquette Crossing will be yet one more tangible sign of the revitalization of our City's downtown and of the exciting promise of economic growth that this revitalization is producing in Albuquerque,” said Senator Ortiz y Pino. “This has long been a dream for community leaders like Frank Martinez of Martineztown, who has kept me involved and informed about it. I look forward to its completion and what that will mean for this historic part of our community."

Longtime Downtown and Martíneztown champion Frank Martinez said, “The Citizens Information Committee of Martíneztown is excited about the impact and future this project will have for the immediate area. The connection between east and west downtown is significant for the economic growth of our city. This, coupled with the Garcia Development, Innovate, and the Marble/Arno project culminates years of dedication from our elected officials and their willingness to champion our efforts for the betterment of our neighborhood.”

The Marquette Crossing is being built with all federally standard safety features for crossing the railroad tracks and funded by money from the ¼-cent transportation tax fund and costs $763,987.28.

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The Department of Municipal Development (DMD) assures that capital projects will be completed efficiently and in a timely manner with high quality standards. The department also oversees the security and maintenance of city facilities, including the operation of Isotopes Stadium. DMD provides the operation and maintenance of city streets, storm drains, school crossing guards, traffic signals as well as the development and design of capital infrastructure for streets and storm drainage