近距离内射合集

Interstate 40 has long been a trade route for goods from California鈥檚 shores to travel to growing markets in Texas, the South, the Midwest and beyond. Bernalillo and Sandoval counties are aiming to be a more useful hub for that movement of goods.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded Bernalillo County $974,000 to plan, study and begin designing an I-40 Tradeport Corridor. GLD Partners of Scottsdale, Arizona, has been contracted to plan the project, Sandoval County Manager Wayne Johnson said.

Albuquerque鈥檚 metro area is a small piece of a much longer I-40 trade route plan that begins at California鈥檚 port of Los Angeles, then travels through Kingman and Winslow, Arizona, before reaching the Albuquerque area.

鈥淚-40 connects New Mexico communities and businesses to some of the largest markets and trade opportunities in America,鈥� Sen. Martin Heinrich said in a statement. 鈥淚鈥檝e been proud to advocate for and now welcome this strategic federal investment to modernize the I-40 corridor. This funding will help prepare the whole region for more clean and electric delivery vehicles on the road and maintain New Mexico鈥檚 central position in our nation鈥檚 supply chain and shipping network.鈥�

The I-40 Tradeport Corridor project is meant to simplify the country鈥檚 supply chain and ease the backup of goods at the Port of Los Angeles by creating trade ports that can move those goods inland faster, Bernalillo County Executive Development Officer Marcos Gonzales said.

The importance of a functional supply chain was highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic when a crippled supply chain created shortages of a wide range of goods.

鈥淓ven now, if you鈥檙e talking about affordable housing issues 鈥� there鈥檚 somebody that can鈥檛 get the screws that go into making the project, the lumber shortages 鈥� all those things are adding to the cost of building housing in general, too,鈥� Gonzales said. 鈥淪o, everything is going up. If we can find ways to make it efficient and make sure that products actually get to where they need to be, we can kind of do some cost control on our public projects and even our affordable housing projects.鈥�

The plan in the Albuquerque area is to build a fueling station for hydrogen- and electric-powered vehicles and to build warehouses for goods transported along I-40. The money from the USDOT鈥檚 infrastructure accelerator program is essentially seed money for developing the infrastructure project.

鈥淭he thing that鈥檚 really driving it is California throwing down the gauntlet of, by 2035, all trucks need to be not using petro fuel in the state,鈥� Gonzales said. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 really pushing a lot of shippers.鈥�

I-40 is already an active shipping route. In 2017, 47 million tons of commodities came through New Mexico along I-40, according to a freight analysis framework created by the Federal Highway Administration鈥檚 Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The freight analysis predicted that by 2050, 86 million tons of commodities will travel through the Land of Enchantment along I-40.

The funding application to the Department of Transportation proposed a 6,000-acre facility with warehousing and distribution space built through a public-private partnership, Gonzales said. Locations are still being scouted.

鈥淪o now we鈥檒l look for the private capital and let business and private owners know that this is a space that is designated by the USDOT where those warehousing and logistics pieces can happen,鈥� Gonzales said.

Growing a region

Rio Rancho is one of the fastest growing communities in New Mexico. But, Johnson said, 鈥�68% of Rio Rancho residents cross the river every day to go to work,鈥� creating a job imbalance west and east of the Rio Grande.

Johnson believes the corridor project could keep more people working west of the river and grow both metro areas by creating jobs with a similar economic value on the west side of the river.

The project could create jobs in warehousing, distribution, clean energy, manufacturing and support industries like retail, Gonzales said.

鈥淚t also becomes attractive for investors, so I鈥檓 talking about manufacturers coming here,鈥� Johnson said.

The Tradeport Corridor is the first time the two counties and Los Lunas have collaborated on a project of this scale, demonstrating the way Los Lunas and Rio Rancho are increasingly tied economically to Albuquerque. Altogether the three entities have spent $124,500 to prepare and submit the application for the Regional Infrastructure Accelerator program, Johnson said.

Just 20 minutes south of Albuquerque, Los Lunas has seen tremendous growth over the past 20 years, said village Senior Economic Developer Victoria Archuleta, attracting a Meta data center, a large Walmart distribution center and a soon-to-be a 600-employee Amazon warehouse.

鈥淭he long-term vision is to also incorporate Los Lunas as an additional vein off of that I-40 artery to connect into other parts of New Mexico and even eastward into parts of Texas,鈥� Archuleta said.

NM Highway 6 runs east to west through Los Lunas and connects to I-40 northwest of the village. Los Lunas also has a BNSF Railway spur connected to a 1,400-acre property waiting for development.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not a sleepy little town anymore, because I think for a long time we were considered just a bedroom community,鈥� Archuleta said, 鈥渁nd that is not the case at all.鈥�

Do帽a Ana County received a similar grant for $1.1 million last year for developing a logistics hub on the Interstate 10 corridor. Bernalillo and Sandoval counties will be looking to work with Do帽a Ana to push for more federal funding for the projects, Gonzales said.

Companies don鈥檛 necessarily look at government boundaries when they decide where to invest, he said.

鈥淭hey just look at what is going to make a good location fit for them, whether it鈥檚 actual location, the workforce pieces. We as communities need to start banding together,鈥� Gonzales said.