County Councilors, County staff and the public gather Thursday afternoon to help snip the ceremonial red ribbon on the 20th Street Extension Project. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com 

 Director Philo Shelton speaks at Thursday’s ribbon cutting. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

Council Chair David Izraelevitz speaks during Thursday’s ribbon cutting. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

Los Alamos County Councilors, County staff and the public gather Thursday afternoon to help snip the ceremonial red ribbon on the 20th Street Extension Project.

Improvements include all major utilities for future service, a paved roadway with curb and gutter, sidewalks, a multi-use trail for future connection to the Canyon Rim Trail, irrigated landscape and street lighting. Additionally, a conduit for data communication was installed.

County Engineer Eric Martinez said the project started in July and finished mid-November. The budget for the project was $1.3 million and total cost came in just under budget. He praised the contractor, Gandy Dancer, saying, “Our contractor did a wonderful job. The whole project team was wonderful to work with.”

A lot of the work was done in-house, he said. The County handled the design as well as the construction oversight.

“We’re excited. The program was successful and we’re waiting for the results of a RFP (request for proposal) on the land development to see what actually develops here,” Martinez said.

Public Works Director Philo Shelton said the 20th Street Extension Project was five years in the making. He explained the County had to do an acquisition with Centurylink. He added to celebrate the project’s completion and to be able to get more economic development to the downtown area felt great.

Council Chair David Izraelevitz said the County has made strides in economic development; he pointed out that the County recently sold land for housing developments in White Rock as well as in Los Alamos.