Los Lunas's 2029 Traffic Fix Is Funded on One Side of the River

Valencia County's newest road maps include three lines that don't exist yet. Each one runs about three miles east from N.M. 47 near Otero Road to Manzano Expressway at Airport Drive. Each one crosses between 63 and 69 parcels. The county calls the project "a decade out," and it has not picked a route.

On the other side of I-25, the Village of Los Lunas has a funding source for its connector roads and a goal of opening them with the new interchange in 2029. The east side has no comparable funding or date. A home that is a short drive from Main Street today may be in a very different spot once the second river crossing opens, and which way it shifts depends on the side of the river it sits on.

What opens in 2029, and how far along it is

The Los Lunas Corridor Project adds a new I-25 interchange about a mile south of the N.M. 6 interchange. It also adds a four-mile road, Los Lunas Boulevard, that will start as two lanes, and a four-lane bridge over the Rio Grande that ends at N.M. 47. According to the Valencia County News-Bulletin's July update, the bridge is just over 2,500 feet long and will be the longest in the state.

Here is the project's progress so far:

1. August 2025. Construction begins. El Terrero Construction of Rio Rancho is the contractor, and Molzen Corbin manages the project. The Phase 1 bid was $159.1 million, with $169 million in total funding from NMDOT, the Federal Highway Administration, the Village and the New Mexico Match Fund.
2. July 2026. Wyatt Kartchner of Molzen Corbin tells the Village Council that crews have used 197 working days and have 743 left. That is about 20 percent of the schedule and about 30 percent of the money.
3. Summer 2026. Work on the Morris Road and N.M. 314 intersection by the Valencia County Courthouse begins July 15. It includes a two-week closure from Aug. 24 to Sept. 7. In late August, Public Works Director Michael Jaramillo said the full rebuild would take about five to six months. When it's done, that piece of Morris Road will be replaced by Los Lunas Boulevard. Work also begins on N.M. 47 between just north of Autumn Breeze Lane and Wolfe Road.
4. Summer 2029. This is the current target for finishing Los Lunas Boulevard.

The Village estimates the new boulevard will cut Main Street congestion by about 40 percent. That is a projection from the Village and its project manager, not a traffic count. Nobody can measure it until the road is open.

The west side's roads are paid for by another company's construction

The bridge and interchange only reach part of Los Lunas. The west side needs its own roads to get to the new interchange without going through Main Street. In September, the Village explained how it plans to pay for them.

Under the state's Local Economic Development Act and Village Ordinance No. 486, the Village will put 50 percent of its available gross receipts tax from construction on Meta's data center expansion toward public road projects. The Village's September 8 release lists the projects:

• Huning Ranch East Loop Extension. A new four-lane road, about three-quarters of a mile long, running from Berman Way to the new Los Lunas Boulevard interchange. It includes sidewalks, streetlights, drainage, water and sewer lines, and a signalized intersection.
• Huning Ranch West Loop Extension. About nine-tenths of a mile long, connecting Huning Ranch West Loop at Lonestar Street to the East Loop. It opens access to the 900-plus-acre Los Senderos master-planned community.
• N.M. 6 at Sun Ranch Village Road. A rebuilt, signalized intersection west of I-25 with new medians, which the Village says will improve access to the new Valencia County Hospital.
• Los Lunas West Loop. Planning and design only, for a proposed 6.5-mile bypass connecting the new interchange to N.M. 6.

Because of how this is set up, the road money depends on how fast someone else builds. The Village gets its share as Meta's construction creates taxable activity. Neither the Village release nor the News-Bulletin's coverage gives a dollar total for the road package. The size of the project behind that tax revenue is large, though. In January, Data Center Dynamics reported that Meta affiliate Greater Kudu LLC had bought about 475 acres next to its existing Los Lunas campus and that the Village had approved industrial revenue bonds of up to $7.5 billion for the expansion.

The Village plans to open the connector roads at the same time as the interchange, "funding permitting." Mayor Charles Griego described the goal this way in the release the News-Bulletin quoted:

"Our objective is straightforward: we want these new roads open to traffic by the time the new interchange and the Los Lunas Boulevard project are complete. The relief should arrive with the interchange, not long after it."

On the west side, then, the plan is to have the main road and its local connectors open at about the same time.

Where the bridge lands

Heading east, the new road ends at N.M. 47. Once Los Lunas Boulevard is fully built, it will be a divided highway with two lanes each way and limited driveway access. Kartchner called it a "mover of vehicles." Speaking to county commissioners, he also described what happens where it meets N.M. 47:

"We know we're going to have a lot of traffic on 47 to go north and south, and that's going to use local, county streets."

Valencia County's plan for that traffic is an east-side extension to Manzano Expressway. County grant manager Jeremias Silva has said that would let drivers head north to Meadow Lake, east to El Cerro Mission and Monterey Park, or south to Rio Communities. In February, commissioners narrowed 12 possible routes to three, as reported in the News-Bulletin's March story:

All three routes begin where the boulevard meets N.M. 47 near Otero Road and end at Manzano Expressway at Airport Drive. After the county picks one route, it moves to environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act and then to design. Right-of-way mapping and land purchases start once design is about 30 percent complete and follow the Federal Highway Administration process. The feasibility study runs through the end of 2027. The county held a community town hall on the extension on April 30 at Anne Parrish Elementary. No preferred route has been reported since.

This matters in a transaction. A buyer looking at property between N.M. 47 and Manzano Expressway near Cypress Gardens is in an area where three possible future road routes are already drawn, and the county has published maps of all 12 original alternates. Those maps are studies, not decisions. They do show where planners are looking, years before any land purchases would start.

The north edge has its own open question

A third area is growing on a different timeline. On September 17, the Village Council approved the final plat for Phase 2 of Fiesta del Norte on the north edge of the village. It adds 156 single-family lots to the 129 built in Phase 1. Developer Sivage Investments' representative said homes there range from 1,420 to 1,883 square feet, with prices from $338,990 to about $455,000.

At that meeting, a councilor asked whether the subdivision had a backup plan for a northern interchange that Village officials and Isleta Pueblo are discussing. According to the News-Bulletin, Community Development Director Alex Ochoa said north access is not in the final plats, though his office has talked with the developers about a possible route along the MRGCD ditch. Any northern interchange is at an earlier stage than the east-side extension.

What the August numbers mean for timing

All of this road news comes during a softer stretch for the county's housing market. The New Mexico Association of Realtors' county statistics show Valencia County with 78 sales in August 2026, up from 63 in August 2025. Over the same period, the median sold price fell to $309,373 from $325,490, and active listings rose to 286 from 244. Average days on market was 50, compared with 53 a year earlier. These countywide figures include more than detached homes. For comparison, the Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors reported a median of $385,000 and 18 median days on market for detached homes across the Albuquerque area in August 2026.

Fifty days on market and 17 percent more listings than a year ago give buyers time to compare locations. With that time, a buyer can look past today's drive to Main Street and ask where a property will sit once the second crossing opens. The figures don't show whether the 2029 road plans affect prices on either side of the river, and no public data yet splits Los Lunas sales by west side, east side or north edge.

A few direct questions

Is the Morris Road closure still in place? The July closure of Morris Road east of N.M. 314 was expected to last until September 2026. The latest reporting doesn't confirm it reopened, so the Village's project page is the best place for current status.

Will the Huning Ranch connectors definitely open with the interchange? That is the Village's goal. Its release says the timing depends on funding, and the funding comes from tax on Meta's expansion construction.

Has the county chosen an east-side route? No preferred route among Alternates 6, 7 and 12 has been reported. The study runs through 2027.

If you're comparing homes on different sides of the Rio Grande, or near one of the proposed east-side routes, Andrea Romero can lay the Village and county road plans over the properties you're considering and pull recent sales for each one. That way your offer reflects how you'll actually get to I-25 in 2029.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.