arizona and new mexico transportation projects get federal money

Work could begin next year on two transportation upgrading and improvement projects in Arizona and New Mexico that have just received funding from the federal Department of Transportation.

That department’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program, otherwise known as TIGER, is providing up to $25 million for the construction of new medians, ramps, and roundabouts along State Route 189 in Arizona.

The TIGER funding will go directly to the Arizona Department of Transportation and will also include pavement widening and flyover ramps as part of the upgrading of the 3.7-mile route that connects the Mariposa Land Port of Entry with Interstate 19 in Nogales.

The Southwest Chief Route Stabilization Project in New Mexico will see a $16 million replacement of tracks that were originally laid in the 1950s.

The project, which is receiving $16 million in TIGER backing, will additionally include the replacement of a damaged culvert, a new signaling system, and installation of a rock slide fence along the Devil’s Throne curve south of Santa Fe.

In announcing some 41 projects totaling nearly $500 million to be funded this year by TIGER grants, the DOT said it put an emphasis on projects that “improve infrastructure conditions, address public health and safety, provide regional connectivity, or facilitates economic growth or competitiveness.”

By Garry Boulard