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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Rodella

DATE TYPED 02/10/2005 HM 19

SHORT TITLE

Taos West Rim Road Responsibility

SB

ANALYST Moser

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

NFI

NFI

NFI

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Transportation

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Memorial 19, due to excessive costs to the County of Taos, would transfer maintenance

responsibility for Taos County Highway B-115 (aka West Rim Rd) to the Department of Trans-

portation.

Significant Issues

DOT worked with Taos County in developing and constructing this project in accordance with a

Road Exchange Agreement. In the original scope of work for the construction of West Rim

Road, a Plant Mix Bituminous Pavement (PMBP) surface was proposed, but local residents op-

posed this proposal and requested that the road remain a base course road. The sentiments seem

to have changed now, but the funds for doing this type of work are not available at this time.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The DOT reports that the current patrol for the area maintains 22.6 miles/FTE. With the added

House Memorial 19 -- Page 2

responsibility for County Road B-115, the patrol will maintain 24.3 miles/FTE. This will create a

lower level of service to existing roadway maintenance needs.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The DOT estimates that the amount to maintain 8.1 miles of the current unpaved road is $33,190

per year. This includes the equipment and labor cost of grading the dirt road 20 times per year

and cleaning the drainage structure 3 times per year.

Since the DOT’s goal is to provide a sound transportation system, a construction project would

be required to make this road meet DOT standards. The impact to the STIP is projected at $9.72

million. This would include paving two 12-foot driving lanes and two 8-foot shoulders.

Future Pavement Preservation/Preventive Maintenance cost over a typical 20 year lifespan is

$264,000. This includes $28,000/year for Fog Seal at years 5, 10, and 15; $88,000/year Chip

Seal at years 7, 12, and 17.

In addition to the above costs, the DOT would also be required to perform snow/ice removal and

incident/emergency management maintenance. The cost of incident management depends on the

scope of the incident and could be rather significant.

GM/njw:lg