LAS CRUCES – The time line for building a southern road to Spaceport Ameica’s $209 million launch site hinges on an upcoming decision by a federal official on an environmental review.
Meanwhile, some critics complain that progress so far on the road project has been slow.
Spaceport supporters contend that paving the route – which would shorten driving time from Las Cruces and other area municipalities – is needed for Do a Ana County to benefit economically from the spaceport.
The earliest that construction of the road could be finished is November 2013, New Mexico Spaceport Authority Executive Director Christine Anderson told the body’s governing board last week.
«We’re on track,» she said. «But unfortunately it’s a pretty long schedule.»
But that time line could be much longer – depending upon an upcoming, key decision in the hands of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
That agency will decide on the type of environmental review needed. One possibility, called an environmental impact statement, is more in-depth and takes longer to carry out, than the other, called an environmental assessment. And the proposed paving route intersects portions of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, a historic trail, an official said.
Progress questioned
In August 2010, Do a Ana County committed – via an agreement with Sierra County and the New Mexico Spaceport Authority – to carrying out the engineering and design work for the pavement project, which would
follow existing Do a Ana and Sierra County dirt roads, and be the construction overseer.
Spaceport backer and state Rep. Andy Nu ez, I-Hatch, who’s also a village trustee, said he’s concerned about the slow pace of the southern road project and the added delay that could happen if an EIS is required. But he’s also troubled by Do a Ana County’s work on the road and county commissioners’ backing, he said.
«I don’t have a lot of faith in our county commission,» he said. «I don’t think they’re pushing with the BLM. They need to get out there and get the BLM to start making a decision. We need to get that road out there. «
The only paved route now requires people to drive to Truth or Consequences – about 70 miles north of Las Cruces – and then backtrack toward the spaceport on a different road. There is a south route already, but it’s a dirt, county road.
Deputy Assistant County Manager Chuck McMahon said county staff have been working diligently on the southern road proposal.
«They’re working hard on the project, devoting their resources to it,» he said. «In terms of moving the project forward, it’s a three way agreement, and to my knowledge, all three partners are working well together and accomplishing their tasks in a timely manner.»
McMahon said the county is «happy to talk to anybody who has a concern about the progress.»
Nu ez said a finished pavement project would «save all kinds of time» for travelers from the south, including from Hatch.
«The biggest part of people who want to go out there are from Las Cruces and the southern part of the state – not T or C,» he said.
Continued Nu ez: «When they start hauling equipment and materials from the West Coast, this is the place they’re going to go. They don’t want to go all the way to T or C. This is a straight shot.»
Decision pending
The southern route – roughly a 25-mile stretch between the Upham exit off Interstate 25 and the spaceport – cuts mostly across public lands. And federally managed lands, by law, require an analysis of potential environmental impacts before major actions can be taken on them.
Anderson said spaceport officials are hoping that the environmental assessment is what’s selected. If not, the two-year schedule «will be longer,» she said.
«And nobody knows for sure; we’re working toward that,» she told the board.
The BLM is expected to decide in December, Anderson said.
Bill Childress, BLM regional director who’s based in Las Cruces, acknowledged that he’s the official who’ll make the final decision about whether an EIS is necessary. Now, he said, a basic, inventory study is being conducted, and the results will form the basis for his decision, he said.
«We’re thinking right now we’re probably leaning more toward the EA than the EIS, but we just can’t say for sure until all the surveys have been completed,» he said. «We have to have all the information at hand before we make that decision.»
The threshold for deciding between the two is whether the project will result in a «significant impact» to the environment, including to the Camino Real trail and Native American resources, among others, Childress said. The fact the paved road would overlay the historic trail in some places «would not necessarily create a need to do an EIS-level analysis,» he said.
Both counties are petitioning the BLM for rights of way to pave over the existing dirt route, as well as to straighten it in places by cutting across new land.
Alternative routes?
Jim Hayhoe, consultant for the village of Hatch, told spaceport officials last week he’s concerned they’re only considering just one possible southern route as viable. He pointed out that the state transportation department in a 2007 examined several alternatives for the road, including one that cut directly east from the Hatch exit on Interstate 25.
«We’re putting all our eggs in one basket by going with the Upham exit,» he said. «If they end up having to do an EIS vs. and EA, that could be another two to three years.»
Construction, vehicles
Paving of a southern road is not the only substantial variable related to the spaceport project.
Construction on the state- and county-financed Spaceport America is more than 90 percent complete, officials said.
Still, the spaceport terminal-hangar building must be officially turned over to the state’s main tenant company, Virgin Galactic, around the start of the year. Virgin Galactic may take about a year to further outfit the structure.
A future Virgin Galactic pilot told the Wall Street Journal last week that the company’s suborbital space tourism flights aren’t likely to begin until 2013.
The spaceport is a proposed launch site for commercial space vehicles that’s being built in southeastern Sierra County, just north of Do a Ana County.
Diana M.
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