疯客直播

鈥淲e want to build a road that highlights the history and the traditions of 疯客直播 Fe,鈥� Airport Manager James Harris said in a Monday interview. 鈥淎s people fly in and they drive out from the airport to the city, they can see what they鈥檙e going to expect when they actually get to the city.鈥�

As more and more people choose to fly directly into 疯客直播 Fe rather than Albuquerque, Harris said their entrance to the city deserves an upgrade.

Right now 鈥渢hey go out through Aviation Drive and they pass junkyards and businesses,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ot that there鈥檚 anything wrong with those because I love junkyards, but that鈥檚 not something that we want visitors to 疯客直播 Fe be the first thing that they see.鈥�

Councilors approved a grant agreement with the Department of Finance and Administration for $4.5 million in capital outlay for the road extension at Wednesday鈥檚 council meeting, as well as a $2 million grant agreement for design work for the second phase of the airport terminal expansion.

Both projects point to the growing footprint of the airport, which has seen a significant increase in visitors over the past several years.

Trending up

The first phase of a long-awaited expansion to the 疯客直播 Fe Regional Airport was completed late last year after a series of unexpected construction delays pushed the project far past its original completion date of January 2023. The project expanded the terminal鈥檚 footprint by about 8,000 square feet with additional gates, seating, parking lots and baggage claim facility, along with an improved check-in area and a coffee and snack shop.

Despite the increased space, Harris said the airport is already outgrowing its capacity due to an increase in passengers and will need to continue to expand if it wants to add more flights. He said the airport had about 363,000 visitors in 2024, a jump of more than 75,000 from 2023, and is on track to hit 400,000 visitors in 2025.

鈥淲e鈥檙e trending up,鈥� he said.

Airport officials are now pursuing the second of a proposed three-phase expansion to continue to build on the renovations and increase the airport鈥檚 footprint to a total of 35,000 square feet. Though initially planned in three phases, Harris said he would like to combine phases two and three to run concurrently, which he said would save the city money and speed up the timeline.

Each phase is currently anticipated to cost $20 million, but Harris said he believes they could be combined into one phase and completed for a total of $30 million.

Airport Road 2.0

Additional expansion of the airport would likely be a yearslong process but Harris has ambitious goals for the road extension, which he said he believes could be designed and constructed with the existing $4.5 million allocation in a matter of 18 months.

鈥淚f everything lines up perfectly,鈥� he said.

The project was formerly a Public Works project but has been moved over to the airport, Harris said. Discussion about the road long predates his time at the city, which began in late 2022. Public Works Director Regina Wheeler said that was true of her as well.

鈥淚t was an idea when I walked in the door six and a half years ago, so I鈥檇 say probably around 10 years,鈥� Wheeler said.

Wheeler said the road extension complements the work going on to expand the airport, which is one of the city鈥檚 top priorities in its Infrastructure Capital Improvements Plan. The city is requesting $10 million in capital outlay this legislative session for construction.

The new connection would build a road from where Jaguar Drive dead-ends at the N.M. 599 overpass and extend it a half-mile to the airport, though Harris said the department is moving away from describing it as a Jaguar Drive extension.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 want to add any more congestion to Jaguar Drive, and calling it the Jaguar Drive extension kind of put out the fear that that鈥檚 what that would be, so we鈥檙e calling it the airport extension,鈥� he said.

With Airport Road and Aviation Drive already taken as street names, Harris said it鈥檚 possible the city could have some kind of public contest once it becomes time to find an official name for the extension.

Councilor Amanda Chavez, who sponsored the grant agreement for the project, said anything that helps make the city鈥檚 road system more well connected is something she鈥檚 eager to support.

鈥淣ot only is it a more appropriate way to enter the airport of 疯客直播 Fe for visitors, but it also is a chance for us to make a connection that is working closer and closer to the complete street concept,鈥� she said.

Now that the grant agreement has been approved, Harris said the next steps will include public outreach meetings. He estimated the design process could take six to eight months.

In the meantime, other expansion work will continue. The airport currently has direct flights to Dallas, Phoenix and Denver. United Airlines had test flights to Houston and Austin last year, and Harris said the airport is exploring bringing back a flight to Los Angeles, something it had in the past but lost during the pandemic. Harris said departure locations are demand-driven.

鈥淎 lot of people want that Los Angeles flight back,鈥� he said. 鈥淥nce we get that Los Angeles flight, then we鈥檒l start entertaining flights to the east, like Chicago, maybe Atlanta.鈥�