I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
State officials say there’s no need to worry about the fate of the New Mexico Rail Runner Express — those wavy train tracks near Santa Fe aren’t done yet.
The Santa Fe New Mexican asked the question that hundreds of sharp-eyed drivers have asked since workers started laying steel track outside the capital. The tracks have been attached to concrete ties and look like they’re finished, but the steel undulates like a roller-coaster ride. The New Mexican has been flooded with questions, the paper said. At least one man also wrote to the Independent, citing the rise and fall of the rails:
Is the effort well funded, or are corners being cut? If I were correct, the mildest effect would be a dramatic reduction in speed of the train. The worst would, of course, be derailment of a train running between two directions of traffic in I-25.
Chris Blewett, a project manager for the agency that operates the train, the Mid-Region Council of Governments, told the New Mexican there’s a reason for the spaghetti look. "It is not done yet," he said.
He explained that although the rails have been attached to the ties, there’s one final phase of work. After crews spread another layer of gravel, the whole thing is tamped and packed again in a process called "de-stressing."
The finished product is visible south of a new tunnel near St. Francis Drive and I-25, Blewett told the newspaper. "That section has already been tamped and de-stressed. It’s straight as an arrow, and it looks like real railroad," he said.
Rail Runner service between Bernalillo and Santa Fe is scheduled to begin late this year.
