Construction on Spaceport America road to begin in June

Construction on the long awaited southern road to Spaceport America is scheduled to begin in the coming months.

For years, visitors have been unable to use the road that begins at the Upham exit off I-25. The road provides direct access to the Spaceport, but it’s 28 miles of gravel. Visitors are currently forced to make a detour through Truth or Consequences.

During a county commission meeting Tuesday, ABC-7 learned construction on the road may finally begin this June.

New Spaceport America CEO Daniel Hicks told commissioners it’ll cost $14 million.

The county was in charge of designing the new road, but the federal Bureau of Land Management said it didn’t meet the right standards. That delayed the process.

Hicks says the 28 mile stretch of gravel road goes through both state, federal and private land, and sorting that out took even longer.

“Finishing the environmental work which is required to get those road constructed took a little bit longer,” Hicks said. “But we finally got all the signatures and a great plan in place with our environmental team and that should be complete within the next three months.”

The $14 million is coming from the Spaceport’s budget which is made up of state and county funds.

The next step will be finding a contractor to do the work.