Designed to Dip

Designs for a long-awaited underpass to carry bikes and pedestrians below St. Francis Drive near its intersection with Cerrillos Road should be available for public review this summer, but don't look for construction there until close to the end of this year.

The plan to connect the Acequia Trail to the Santa Fe Railyard is in the design stage, and those drawings are nearly complete—90 percent there, estimates city spokesman Matt Ross. Once done, Ross says, officials plan to schedule a public information meeting to present those designs.

The Public Works Committee approved a cooperative agreement for construction work with the New Mexico Department of Transportation for the multiuse underpass during the July 6 committee meeting. The state is involved primarily because St. Francis Drive falls under its jurisdiction as a state highway.

The City of Santa Fe and Federal Air Quality and Congestion Management Funds, channeled through the Department of Transportation, will pay for the project's expected $3.8 million cost, Ross says. Just over 85 percent of the costs are expected to come from the federal funds, and the city's match is from a bond passed in 2012.

By October or November, the project should have gone to bid to get the construction process going, Ross says. Construction management and construction services bids will be taken simultaneously and should begin within two weeks of when contractors are notified they've been selected for the project, according to a memo from the city's river and watershed coordinator. Estimated completion dates for construction will come later in the process.

Santa Fe Reporter