Opening the bridge

GRANTS, N.M. — A small crowd gathered to celebrate the opening of the new pedestrian bridge at Grants High School. The project was initially designed to help the school close off its campus, as Washington Avenue cut right through it onto Roosevelt Avenue before the City of Grants, working with the Grants/Cibola County School District, closed off the road.

Attending officials including City of Grants Mayor Martin “Modey” Hicks, State Representative Harry Garcia, State Senator Clemente Sanchez, and G/CCSD Superintendent Max Perez joined Grants High School athlete Kristina Simpson who cut the red ribbon, signifying the opening of the bridge.

The new bridge

The “City [of] Grants officials wanted the person who cut the ribbon to represent the most frequent users of the bridge, Grants High School students. Kristina Simpson was just that person. She is a great all-around student and athlete,” City of Grants Projects Coordinator Donald Jaramillo said.

The bridge is the beginning of a new trail, which is currently known as Grants Trail but does not yet have an official name, which will loop around the high school, according to Projects Coordinator Jaramillo. The next phase will be to make the trail markings clearer, and eventually the city hopes to connect all the trails in the community together. Currently this trail rests not far from the Riverwalk Legacy Trail in downtown Grants.

“We’re looking for funding for the next phase, but funding might be difficult to get,” Jaramillo explained.

“What we really lucked out on was collaborating with the schools. There are these [N.M. Department of Transportation] programs, they apply, we apply and [DOT] likes to see collaborative projects so we both get funded, for this bridge. The district paid $90,000 funded by DOT; they gave us $200,000 — and the city provided the schools’ match and the city’s match. So, the school did not have to pay anything because the city provided that match,” Jaramillo said.

Jaramillo said that this project will be completed in phases but at this point there is not a timestamp as to when the trail might be completed. Next, the city plans to concrete the arroyo that the bridge spans.

What the dignitaries had to say

“It’s extremely exciting to be here today, as we dedicate this pedestrian bridge and surrounding project. For those who work on projects such as this, we know that most of the time, such a project is years in the making. Even though it takes a lot of hard work and persistence to finish these projects, the finished product makes it worth the red tape and sometimes the long wait,” City of Grants Manager Laura Jaramillo said.

The manager applauded the work of everyone involved and thanked G/CCSD for their cooperation, noting how effective the partnership worked out.

Wilson and Company, which offers engineering, architecture, planning, environmental, survey & mapping, and construction management services, helped guide and construct the project; Manager Jaramillo thanked them for their help to “see the big picture.”

“It’s really nice to be a part of this progress, it has been [really] exciting,” Superintendent Perez said, “It really shows what the community can do when we leverage each other’s resources.” Perez said that this project was great because it was about cooperation between various agencies, groups, and people. “Thanks for making the Grants community a better place to live.”

Mayor Hicks said that the school board had brought up the idea of closing off the Grants High School campus 14 years ago, and that with perseverance and cooperation the work was able to get done.

New Mexico Department of Transportation District 6 Commissioner Charles Lundstrom said that the political climate in the world is hyper-charged and that it was a pleasure to see work get done regardless. Senator Sanchez and Representative Garcia echoed that sentiment and urged the city to get to work on their other projects, like the First Street project, quickly before the money goes away. Both state legislators said that their may not be much money to do projects in the next year due to budget shortfalls from the pandemic.

First Street Project

“We’re not reacting anymore, we’re proacting. We are proacting because we have been planning for a long time... First Street is going to take a whole year, we are going to break ground in November, and its all the way until December of next year. We just have one cert[ification] waiting, there are like six certifications and we just need to get one more signed and then we’re going to bid,” Projects Coordinator Jaramillo said.

He claimed that the new road will include lighting, improved drainage across the street, a bike lane, and large pipes for drainage. “It’s all being upsized; it’s all being upgraded. To the naked eye its just a new road but there is a lot of improvements underneath,” Jaramillo said.