Work on the reconstruction of the North Belen interchange halted Wednesday, less than four months after it became clear the project would run out of money.

The interchange was being reconstructed to provide access to Rancho Cielo, a master-planned residential, commercial and industrial development west of Los Chavez.

While the state funded $4 million of the design and reconstruction work, Rancho Cielo’s developer, Coast Range Investments, never provided the remaining millions needed to complete the project, as had been promised in a three-party agreement among the developer, the State of New Mexico and the City of Belen.

According to officials with the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT), a letter has been sent to Coast Range Investments telling the company it’s too late to contribute its portion to complete the project.

NMDOT is terminating the project’s construction contract.

Demobilization of the construction crew and the delay in completing the project will substantially increase the cost of completing it in the future, should Coast Range Investments seek to restart construction. The project will also need to be rebid.

The interchange project was embroiled in controversy in February when city officials and others found out the developer was refusing to contribute the funding needed to complete it.

The construction crew and NMDOT are expected to address a couple of minor issues related to paving and lighting in the coming weeks.

This page was published on June 11, 2010 at 9:53am and is filed under Economy, Infrastructure, Rancho Cielo.