WEB FIRST: Camelot Blvd. closure heralds changes due to Los Lunas Blvd./I-25 Corridor project

LOS LUNAS  — The first couple of changes to existing roads along the path of the new Los Lunas Boulevard are on their way as work continues on the Los Lunas Blvd./Interstate 25 along the current Morris Road.

On Tuesday, the Village of Los Lunas put out a press release explaining the traffic impact and timeline of the current changes. A section of Camelot Blvd. SW south of Camino Cancun in the Rancho Valencia neighborhood will be temporarily shut down between is being shut down as Morris Road is realigned. 

The change will establish a new connection to Sichler Road to the east and adjust Morris Road to accommodate the new Los Lunas Blvd., which will run from I-25 over the current path in front of the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility.

The closure is necessary to complete the new Camelot-to-Sichler-to-Morris connection, said Michae Jaramillo, Public Works Director for the Village of Los Lunas. 

"What's happening with the shutdown is that we are getting ready to start paving the new connection from Camelot to Sichler to Morris," said. "In order for us to get that done, we have to shut that section of road down so that we can get these improvements done. Then we'll open up Camelot again to the (new segment) of road."

According to the press release, a two-and-a-half to three-week closure will begin next week, between February 23 and 27 and should be\ complete by mid-to-late March. 

Jaramillo said other details will be taken care of in the next few weeks, in addition to the paving and redirection of Morris Road.

“We’ve got to finish the ditch crossing that's right there, which we got most of it already done,” he said, “but now we got to do the other side of it, which would be the south side of that ditch right there where that jog (in the road) is at. We don't like to shut things down, but we're going to have to. There'll still be access to the prison, but not from Camelot. It’ll be from Morris Road.”

Additionally, there is now a temporary closure of Morris Road on the east side of N.M. 314 for "maybe two to three weeks" to relocate dry utilities and complete box culvert work. 

Jaramillo also said the village plans to turn Juan Perea Road into a cul-de-sac as part of the Los Lunas Blvd. project.

Juan Perea Road currently connects to Morris Road, just to the east of the railroad tracks. Jaramillo said the plans for the new Los Lunas Boulevard have always involved removing access to Juan Perea Road from the south.

"It’s true, in our plan Juan Perea will no longer be connected (on the south end)," he confirmed. “With the proximity of the new intersection (At N.M. 314) the railroad is not going to be suitable. So there will be a cul-de-sac at the end of it."

The work to close Juan Perea Road is tied to the railroad's construction timeline, Jaramillo said,  adding that area residents would be notified ahead of time of the change. 

"By this time next year, we'll probably be sending out notices that that road is either in process to be closed or is in construction to be closed," he said, indicating that by May of next year, Juan Perea Road would be configured as a dead end.