Meadow Lake to get new bus service

July 15, 2009

A Rio Metro Regional Transit District official is saying the Meadow Lake area will soon be included among the communities in Valencia County that will get new public transportation services.

In early June, Bruce Rizzieri, regional transit manager with Rio Metro, spoke with residents in Belen, Jarales and Veguita to tell them about a new bus system for those areas to be tied into various bus stops, including grocery stores, the University of New Mexico Valencia Campus and Belen’s New Mexico Rail Runner Express station.

Now Rizzieri says Meadow Lake will be added, primarily connecting that community with locations in Los Lunas and to “help that portion of the county.” Because Los Lunas has its own bus service, Rio Metro isn’t anticipating adding routes within Los Lunas, only between Meadow Lake and Los Lunas.

“We’re proposing a fixed route service – several runs in the morning, several runs in the afternoon – providing connections over to locations in Los Lunas,” he said. “At the time, we’re not quite sure where those locations are going to be.”

Rizzieri mentioned the Los Lunas Rail Runner station as a likely stop.

Rio Metro, an arm of the Mid-Region Council of Governments, will host a public meeting in Meadow Lake sometime before the middle of September to discuss the project with residents. One of the goals of the meeting is to determine where residents go in Los Lunas, as well as when they leave and return to Meadow Lake.

“We’ll get a little bit more specific information to help us with rough planning and the schedule,” he said.

Rizzieri’s announcement comes on the heels of an announcement that Rio Metro will receive $636,000 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, funneled through the New Mexico Department of Transportation, for four buses and sheltered bus stops in rural areas, including Valencia County. The program also covers Bernalillo and Sandoval counties.

Rio Metro is working to acquire vehicles with that stimulus funding and the program’s primary funding source, an eighth of a percent regional transit tax approved by voters in November.

“We’re doing pretty good. We’re looking at the vehicles to be acquired, to keep that process going,” he said. “And then we’re looking at various shelter locations in the counties, acquiring and designing them.”

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