Long-awaited bridge in Jarales finally opens

JARALES — With the snip of a pair of very large scissors, a community was reconnected as dozens of community members gathered for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the brand new railroad overpass bridge on Jarales Road.

After 15 months of construction, the bridge opened to allow the free flow of traffic north and south on Jarales Road, a.k.a. N.M. 109.

“This is a long time needed and a long time coming,” said New Mexico Department of Transportation District 3 supervisor Paul Brasher at the ceremony. “This addresses the safety needs of the community, and is a shining example of what happens when the local community comes together with local officials.”

NMDOT staff and contractors were joined by dozens of community members to officially open the overpass on Thursday, Nov. 14.

For decades, the triple-track at-grade crossing was a source of delays and safety concerns for the residents of the rural community. With 90-plus BNSF freight trains traveling through the corridor a day, some two to three miles long, the crossing was frequently blocked by trains coming into and out of the Belen fueling yard to the north. N.M. 109 is classified as a major collector by NMDOT and carries about 2,200 vehicles a day.

Not only would residents have to take alternate routes around the blocked crossing, but also would medical, fire and law enforcement first responders.

In 2017, a plan was floated by BNSF to close the crossing completely, cutting the community in two as well as the fire district. The Jarales fire station is south of the new bridge. At the time, county safety personnel had deep concerns about long response times if the crossing was closed and emergency services had to find a different north-south route.

Jarales residents pushed back on the proposed closure and with the support of local and state officials, convinced BNSF to contribute to the cost of an overpass.

The railroad provided $13,889,106 to the project with the state contributing $34,938,872, the majority of which came through a legislative appropriation in 2022.

Valencia County Commission Chairman Gerard Saiz said the new bridge addressed many issues in the community.

“It provides better access and opens up the flow if traffic. It also eliminated one of the safety issues with the crossing for our first responders,” Saiz said. “It addresses so many of the needs of our residents out there. It’s a win-win for everybody.”

Now that the bridge is complete, Valencia County Fire Chief Matt Propp said it would definitely reduce response times for his department, “by 10 minutes at least, if not more.”

While the bridge was being built the crossing was closed, forcing traffic to take side roads, something emergency personnel also had to do. Propp said with the closure, response to the community east of the river and north of the railroad crossing was served by the Los Chavez station on N.M. 314.

“We definitely felt it with the crossing closed,” the chief said. “This is huge.”

While state Sen. Greg Baca was unable to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Mo Moabed, deputy secretary of Highway Operations for NMDOT, relayed his comments, with Baca calling the bridge “a symbol of the success we have when we work together.”

Brasher thanked the community and residents of Jarales for their patience during the project, acknowledging living near a project of this size is never easy.

“Everyone involved in this project can look back with satisfaction that they were part of helping build something that will be in use for generations to come,” he said.

Wilfred and Donna Baca live on the south side of the new bridge and got a front-row seat to its construction.

“It was interesting to see the project being built from scratch, to watch it built from the bottom up every day,” Donna said.

Both said the work crews were always considerate and helpful as the ingress and egress to their property changed frequently.

“They were very coordinated and effective,” Wilfred said.

Living near the crossing for so long, the Bacas said they have watched as emergency vehicles sat and waited for trains to clear the crossing, only to give up and back track to circle around and go north a different way.

“We’re glad to have the bridge,” Donna said. “It will be safer and maybe lead to some businesses coming here.”

In addition to the new bridge over the railroad tracks, the project included rebuilding about 0.701 miles of roadway on Jarales Road, installing new roadway striping and signage and improving drainage and erosion control in the surrounding area.

“Our design team did an excellent job getting this project ready for construction and we had a good construction team working together to complete this project,” said NMDOT Cabinet Secretary Ricky Serna in a press release. “We had a successful partnership with BNSF railroad, the funding they provided and their understanding of the importance of this project to the area really helped the successful completion of this project.

“The bridge will improve connectivity, invest in the future of Jarales and Belen and provide a safe, modern transportation route that promotes economic development.”