ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – After years and years of hoping and planning, the new Sunport Blvd. extension is almost complete, but it’s already been inaugurated with a giant piece of graffiti that’s quite visible from I-25.
With only about a month to go before drivers can use the bridge to connect to the South Valley, someone has left their mark by vandalizing a huge portion of the new construction. “It was disappointing they did it. The day that happened, it was the contractor left at 6 p.m., and the next morning they got there at 7 a.m. and it had happened overnight which was kind of amazing because it was pretty big graffiti,” said Bernalillo County Engineering Manager, Rodrigo Eichwald.
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The portion of the $22 million expansion has been going on since September of 2021 and includes a couple of bridges, but it’s not clear how long that graffiti’s been there. However, Eichwald says it is the contractor’s responsibility to clean it up. Either way, the project that’s been years in the making to connect Sunport Blvd. down to Broadway and into the South Valley, is almost done. “This provides better access and keeps heavy trucks from having to go through the San Jose neighborhood so it gets those right on the freeway and you don’t have the big trucks going through the neighborhood through Broadway,” said Eichwald.
Eichwald said while they can’t have crews out here 24/7 there will be an increase of maintenance crews to help keep an eye on things, and they hope once the bridge opens, the steady traffic will help deter future vandals. Bernalillo County will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 21 to unveil the new extension project along with a new statue.
