Changes coming to construction on Valley Drive

NMDOT is set to discuss changes coming to Valley Drive in Las Cruces at a meeting Tuesday Night.

Since construction started last year, businesses have closed and others have seen a decline in sales.

Western Mercantile located on 848 N. Valley Drive has two entrances to their store completely block off from traffic, making drivers go all the way around to gain entrance.

Manager at Western Mercantile Jason Yarbrough told ABC-7 he has seen less traffic coming into his store, “If you have never been to our store, which half of our traffic is tourist, people who come in, we’re not getting any of them because they don’t know how to get in here,” said Yarbrough. “You really have to be here a few times to know to sneak in the back somehow.”

District Coordinator for NMDOT Trent Doolittle said he understand business owners frustrations, “Anytime you do an urban project, we encounter these kinds of interactions with the businesses.” Doolittle adds, “In all reality, this project is actually going really well.”

At the meeting, NMDOT will discuss plans to extend construction to seven days a week instead of five and crews will work longer hours.

Doolittle said construction is slated to finish a month ahead of schedule in February 2020.

The meeting will be held Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. at the Las Cruces Public Library.

It is open to the public