The Albuquerque Northwest Loop is a projected

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

in New Mexico's Bernalillo and Sandoval counties. The road, which would be built in a rural area, is projected to connect U.S. Route 550 (US 550) near

Rio Rancho Rio Rancho () is the largest and most populous city in Sandoval County, part of the expansive Albuquerque metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of New Mexico. A small portion of the city extends into northern Bernalillo County. It is the third ...

to Interstate 40 (I-40) near the

Rio Puerco The Rio Puerco is a tributary of the Rio Grande in the U.S. state of New Mexico. From its source on the west side of the Nacimiento Mountains, it flows about ,Calculated in Google Earth generally south to join the Rio Grande about south of ...

(approximately from central

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

). It is mentioned in a transportation plan geared towards the year 2030 produced by the Mid-Region Council of Governments and would likely be funded by mostly private sources. The projected cost of the first phase of construction is $52,890,000, later stages are projected to amount to approximately $70,000,000. The two-lane highway would initially have a gravel surface; the

right-of-way A right of way (also right-of-way) is a specific route that people, animals, vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the right to do so. Rights-of-way in the physical sense include controlled-access h ...

could accommodate the expansion of the road into a freeway if needed due to future growth. The announcement of a federal

environmental assessment Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental imp ...

concerning the corridor reignited old controversies over the planned road. Some proponents of the road argue that it will ease

traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s, resulting in m ...

in metropolitan Albuquerque and facilitate the economic development of the region, creating many jobs. Some opponents of the road argue that it would induce sprawl and that the inclusion of public money to develop the road would be an unfair subsidy to the developers who own the land around it. Some

planner Planner may refer to: * A personal organizer (book) for planning * Microsoft Planner * Planner programming language * Urban planner * Route planner * Meeting and convention planner * Japanese term for video game designer See also * Plan (disambig ...

s point out that traffic projections show that there is no need for the right-of-way, which was given to

Sandoval Sandoval is a habitational surname of Spanish language, Spanish origin. It primarily originates from Sandoval de la Reina, Spain, earlier called ''Sannoval'', which is a blend word of Latin ''saltus'' (meaning 'grove' or 'wood') and Latin ''novalis ...

and

Bernalillo Bernalillo () is a town in and the county seat of Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 8,977 at the 2020 census. Bernalillo is part of the Albuquerque metropolitan area. History Wine Festival In the 1620s, the wine g ...

counties in the early 1990s by the landowners, while backers claim that the road will nonetheless have to be built to serve the eventual development that is planned for the area.

References

{{Reflist Proposed roads in the United States Transportation in New Mexico Transportation in Albuquerque, New Mexico