Bernalillo County to host meeting on Fourth Street road diet project

Bernalillo County will bring the Fourth Street Road Diet Reconstruction Project to the public June 30, giving residents, business owners and other stakeholders a chance to see how the corridor is set to change between Ortega Road and Alameda Boulevard. The meeting will run from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Raymond G. Sanchez Community Center, with an open house at 5:30 p.m. and a presentation and question-and-answer session starting at 6 p.m.

The project has already moved well beyond the concept stage. On March 24, the Bernalillo County Board of County Commissioners approved the work and selected Compass Engineering as the low bidder at $6.3 million. County officials said funding had already been set aside through the county’s biennial budget and road bonds, and construction is scheduled to begin this summer and continue through winter 2027.

At its core, the plan will change the way Fourth Street functions block by block. County materials describe the redesign as a conversion from four travel lanes to a three-lane section with two through lanes and a continuous center left-turn lane, along with bike lanes, ADA accessibility, new pavement, curb and gutter, sidewalks and a new drainage system. Officials have said the work is meant to improve roadway, drainage and pedestrian safety, while also making the corridor work better for people on foot and on bikes.

That balance matters along a stretch of road that carries drivers, cyclists and pedestrians through the North Valley and the Los Ranchos de Albuquerque area. A 2025 report said 48 homes and businesses along the corridor would be affected during construction, with access to side streets and properties to be maintained as much as possible. County leaders have also said they are coordinating with the Village of Los Ranchos on its 4th Street Revitalization Project, part of a broader effort to create a safer environment, strengthen Fourth Street’s identity and support private investment.

The drainage work is a major piece of the project as well. County public works documents say the new subsurface system will collect runoff through storm drain inlets and release it into the Paseo del Norte pond, addressing ponding and flood risk in a corridor that county materials describe as part of historic pre-1937 U.S. 66.

With construction approaching, the June 30 meeting will be the public’s chance to press county staff on access, turns, bike connections, pedestrian safety and neighborhood impacts before the design is locked in. For a corridor as heavily traveled and as locally significant as Fourth Street, those details will shape how the road works for years to come.