Summary
County, municipal and industry representatives told lawmakers that heavy truck traffic along New Mexico 11 and through Deming and Columbus requires bypasses or widening to protect downtowns and support new industrial investment tied to an American Magnesium project.
Luna County officials and industry representatives asked the Legislative Transportation Committee on Wednesday to support long-planned bypasses and truck-route improvements along New Mexico 11, arguing the upgrades are necessary to remove heavy commercial traffic from small towns and to enable new industrial investment.
County Manager Chris Bryce told the committee that New Mexico 11 — the corridor running from Deming to the Columbus port — now carries substantially more heavy truck traffic, including equipment and wide loads bound for Mexico and regional processors. "Highway 11 has become a very busy corridor," Bryce said, describing semis and heavy equipment queuing to cross the border and sometimes running through downtown Columbus.
Why it matters: county and city leaders said traffic and safety concerns are constraining local commerce and quality of life. Carol Ness, managing member of American Magnesium, described a bankable technical report for a magnesium project near Deming and said truck access to a Deming industrial park is essential for milling and rail transfer. "We would take whatever route that was planned for the port of entry because it's basically the same route," Ness told lawmakers, urging state and federal help with truck routing and timing.
Background and proposed solutions: officials described a decade-long effort to study bypass alternatives for Columbus and a possible Deming bypass or widening of NM 11 to four lanes in congested segments. The county previously estimated a 25-mile bypass at about $50 million in 2016–17; presenters said inflation and construction-cost escalation would raise that price substantially today. The county has applied multiple times for federal competitive grants — including BUILD/TIGER and other discretionary programs — and said it came close to awards but needs tweaks and legislative support to secure federal funding.
Industry perspective: Ness presented a bankable National Instrument report for the magnesium deposit, told the committee the site received a BLM Finding of No Significant Impact during environmental review and said the project would mill material in the Deming industrial park with rail and natural-gas access. She argued the mine and mill would provide jobs and tax revenue statewide and that truck-route improvements would be a relatively modest near-term cost compared with project benefits.
Short-term measures and shovel-ready projects: county managers listed smaller, shovel-ready fixes intended to divert heavy truck traffic from NM 11, including strengthening and surfacing Sunshine Road and local connector roads to serve industrial lots and a proposed east-side Columbus bypass. They also asked the committee to help prioritize Transportation Project Fund and capital-outlay support for local grant matches and encouraged coordination on federal grant applications.
Ending: Legislators encouraged local leaders to continue refining grant applications, to coordinate with NMDOT and federal partners and to provide the committee with refined cost estimates; several members offered to help elevate the truck-route and berm projects in capital-outlay and grant-priority lists.
