NNSA Public Briefing On NM 4 Upgrade 5:30 p.m. Today

NNSA News:

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the New Mexico Department of Transportation have agreed to partner to redesign and rebuild the intersection at N.M. 4 and East Jemez Road in Los Alamos, which leads to Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

Construction is expected to begin in Spring 2022 and last through 2023.

NNSA will provide a public briefing on this project at 5:30 p.m. today at the Los Alamos County Transportation Board. This event can be viewed here.

“This partnership is good news for NNSA, for the state of New Mexico, and for our community, said NNSA Los Alamos Field Office Manager Ted Wyka. “It will improve traffic safety at a heavily used intersection and reduce commute times for many lab employees.”

The project is the final Supplemental Environmental Project as part of a 2016 agreement with the State of New Mexico in lieu of potential penalties associated with a 2014 contamination event at DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad.

As part of that agreement, DOE and NNSA agreed to spend up to $12 million to improve DOE-owned transportation routes used to ship transuranic waste from LANL to WIPP. An additional investment of $3.5 million by NNSA cleared the path for East Jemez/NM-4 intersection upgrade to move forward. The additional $3.5 million allocation brings the total for road infrastructure improvements to $15.5 million.

Upon completion, a four-way intersection with additional lanes and safety features will improve the flow of daily traffic through the intersection that leads west to LANL and south to White Rock. Additionally, the work will facilitate the National Park Service’s creation of a new parking area at Bandelier National Monument’s Tsankawi unit east of the intersection.

Search
LOS ALAMOS

ladailypost.com website support locally by OviNuppi Systems