Residents concerned construction at old country club site will block emergency crews

Las Cruces residents are complaining about a road closed for construction of a multi-million dollar medical facility that will sit on the Old Las Cruces Country Club grounds.

The recent construction has closed off Camino Del Rex, which is located just off Main Street. Nearly 700 residents living in a nearby neighborhood use the road.

With the recent closure, residents are now concerned emergency responders will not be able to reach their home.

“They are doing this without telling neighbors,” resident Connie Potter said. “They are doing this without and consideration for the life and safety of those of us who are disabled.” Potter claims response time will now be slower for residents living near the closed road.

Access to the neighborhood is still available, however, emergency crews would have to circumvent the construction zone.

Potter claims the residents were never properly notified of the construction. ” My house backs to the country club and we were given no notice,” she said.

Las Cruces Builders Owner John Strain told ABC-7’s New Mexico Mobile Newsroom his company went through all the proper channels before begining the project.

“We were approved by the state and the city to mill the road to that point,” he said. “We are allowed to be working in the area.”

Strain says his company gave notification to the city prior to beginning and that the city was then responsible to inform fire, police and ambulance crews about the closure.

“It has gone through the channels it was suppose to go through,” Strain said. “It’s going to happen, there will be a hospital and medical office here.”