The Mesilla Valley MPO Technical Advisory Committee on Friday recommended prioritizing the Town of Mesilla’s Paisano Road resurfacing project and ranked a Snow Road planning-and-design application second.

The recommendation follows presentations from Dominic Loya, MPO staff, and Mayor Russell Hernandez of the Town of Mesilla, who described two applications the town submitted for Transportation Project Fund (TPF) consideration. "Our first request in here is for a resurfacing of Paisano Road," Mayor Russell Hernandez said, describing a 1.1-mile grind-and-resurface project and a request for $670,772 from the TPF with a town proportional match of $333,539.

The nut of the request: the Paisano project covers engineering, construction and construction management for a 3-inch grind and full resurfacing of the existing pavement. Mayor Hernandez said photos in the packet show erosion near the roadway prism; he said the most significant damage there followed a vehicle collision with a fire hydrant last year and that repairs to the drainage feature will be handled separately with EBID while the town is in the area.

The second application is a planning-and-design request for improvements along a segment of Snow Road, including potential sidewalk or multi-use path extensions to connect a school, the university corridor and other regional trails. Mayor Hernandez said the planning phase would identify right-of-way needs and design alternatives; the town requested roughly $102,586.36 for planning and design with a proportional match of $5,399.29. He said landowner letters of support and coordination with EBID are expected to be included when the full packet is submitted.

Committee members pressed the town to note potential right-of-way needs early in the design process. "Since this project potentially has the potential to go outside your existing right-of-way, just mark others," committee member Andreas Lehnen said, adding the reminder that recipients have three years to spend awarded funds and should consider acquisitions once design is complete.

The committee then voted on a motion "to approve the prioritization of the project as presented by the mayor." The motion was moved by "Mister Shandres Venen" and seconded by "Andrew Robertson." The committee recorded a unanimous voice vote; no roll-call tally was provided.

Why it matters: resurfacing projects extend pavement life and reduce maintenance costs, while the Snow Road planning request aims to fill gaps in pedestrian and bicycle connectivity that committee members flagged as important for school access and regional trail links.

The Town of Mesilla will incorporate the reviewing committee’s recommended edits into the final application packet before submission to the MPO governing board.