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State Transportation Project Fund: MPO outlines application timeline, eligibility and ranking process
Summary
MPO staff reviewed New Mexico’s Transportation Project Fund call for projects and the MPO’s ranking timeline, including a March 21 project feasibility form deadline and an April 2 full application deadline.
MPO staff briefed the Technical Advisory Committee on the New Mexico Transportation Project Fund (TPF) call for projects and the MPO’s role in preparing and ranking candidate projects.
Staff said TPF applications are state‑funded and eligible activities include environmental studies, planning, design, construction, right‑of‑way acquisition for transportation infrastructure, and other related work. Applications must include a cover letter (signed by an authorized official, e.g., county manager or city manager), confirmation of matching funding (TPF requires a 5% local match), a project feasibility form, a project map, and letters of support from right‑of‑way owners when an applicant does not own the right‑of‑way. Locally owned rights‑of‑way are eligible provided the project does not already have federal funding; projects on NMDOT or National Highway System routes require NDOT coordination and support.
Key dates given at the meeting: project feasibility forms due March 21 (project feasibility meetings March 28, slots 1–3 p.m.), full applications due April 2, initial presentations to the policy board on April 9, BPAC recommendation April 15, TAC review May 1, policy board ranking and resolution May 14, and MPO upload to the NMDOT FTP site before May 31. Staff said the advisory committees (BPAC and TAC) will provide recommended rankings; policy board typically weighs those recommendations heavily.
NMDOT staff at the meeting said the statewide TPF pool is about $40,000,000 this year. Staff and NMDOT clarified that the program favors projects that are staged or otherwise “shovel ready” in phases (planning/scoping, then design, then construction), because many awards must be completed within a roughly 30‑month project window. A workshop for interested applicants is scheduled Feb. 12 at the Solano Yard. The committee discussed whether opportunistic right‑of‑way acquisition would rank well; staff advised right‑of‑way acquisition can be eligible but opportunistic purchases may score lower under ranking criteria.
