SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – Santa Fe County crews are full-go on a $20 million project to build a network of roads in a burgeoning area just south of the city. The work will also dramatically change a popular trail.

Hikers and mountain bikers love the Spur Trail, but county developers are making room for vehicles to join the trek.

Spur Trail Trailhead is closed until further notice.

“Northeast-Southeast connector roads is in our high growth area,” said Public Works Director Brian Snyder.

The trail is a small piece of a much larger project. A $20 million infrastructure plan called the Northeast-Southeast Connector Roads Project.

“Everything highlighted in blue, the roads highlighted blue, are what’s currently under construction,” said Snyder.

Right now, anyone looking to get South of I-25, like those heading to Santa Fe Community College, is relying heavily on Richards Avenue.

“What the project entails is just under four miles of road that’s going to interconnect existing roads,” said Snyder.

It looks to connect Dinosaur Trail, Rabbit Road, Oshara Boulevard, Richards Avenue, and Avenida Del Sur and reimagine Spur Trail.

“It’s an existing multi-use trail, so it provided for pedestrian use, bicycle use, and equestrian use,” said Engineering Service Manager Ivan Trujillo.

Once construction is finished, the trail will still be accessible, but it’s going to look very different.

“Two bike lanes, a bike lane on each side of the road, and two, 11-foot driving lanes as well as on the south side of the road, we’ll have another trail,” said Snyder.

The county said this will only impact a short stretch of the trailhead.

“The existing Spur Trail will leave the roadway appoximately at this location about nine-tenths of a mile, and it will head north,” said Trujillo.

Four miles of new roads and six new roundabouts are changes they said are necessary to accommodate the growing city.

“There’s plans for largely residential and mixed-use developments throughout this whole entire corridor,” said Snyder.

Right now, the project is not causing any road closures in the area. Drivers shouldn’t expect any commute issues until late June when work on Richards Avenue begins.