A nonprofit research firm says New Mexico doesn’t have enough funding in place to properly maintain and improve the state’s transportation system. What’s more, declining and deficient infrastructure is costing New Mexicans billions of dollars.
Unfortunately, the fix requires more than money.
Flawed, defective and inadequate infrastructure — like roads and bridges that are deteriorated, congested, or missing safety features — cost the state’s motorists $3.6 billion annually. That’s due to excess vehicle maintenance costs caused by rough roads, traffic accidents, lost time, and more.
A new report by TRIP, a national transportation nonprofit, finds traffic jams alone cost New Mexicans over $1 billion every year in wasted fuel and lost time, which amounts to about 46 hours per year sitting in traffic for the average driver.
TRIP researches, evaluates, and distributes economic and technical data on surface transportation issues. It came up with the report using data from private companies like AAA, and from more than a dozen different federal and state departments like the National Highway Safety Administration, state and federal Departments of Transportation and even the U.S. Census Bureau.
State Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, chairs the Legislative Finance Committee, but he said the state needs more than money to fix its roads.
“The big question is,” he said, “where are we going to get the contractors from?”
According to the latest legislative capital outlay report, the state needs at least another 2,000 construction workers to meet current demand, which has increased significantly in the last few years — the private nonresidential construction market more than doubled since 2021, and construction costs have increased by 46%.
“The employment pool is getting smaller,” he said. “As that gets smaller, we have to pay more, and people don't realize that you're not going to get an employee to come out on the interstate and hold a shovel for minimum wage anymore.”
Last week’s report found there are more than $5.6 billion in projects the New Mexico Department of Transportation has identified as necessary, yet they remain unfunded.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
