Structural damage delays Bernalillo County bridge project downtown Albuquerque

Structural damage at Bernalillo County’s newer headquarters has delayed the bridge project tied to Alvarado Square, leaving Silver Street closed between 4th and 5th streets in downtown Albuquerque. The closure, which has been in place since July 2025, has stretched what began as a construction project into a longer disruption around the county complex.

Bernalillo County has spent months making repairs after the damage was discovered, and the issue is now tied to both the skybridge and roof work at the site. The county maintains an official page titled Alvarado Square Skybridge and Roof Projects Update, a sign that the repairs are still active enough to warrant ongoing public communication. Bernalillo County Public Works also lists the effort among its current projects.

The closed stretch sits in front of Alvarado Square, one of the most visible government sites in downtown Albuquerque. With Silver Street blocked off, the county’s headquarters area is less direct for employees, visitors and residents who come downtown for county business. The closure also affects day-to-day movement through a part of the city where government, pedestrian traffic and downtown circulation intersect.

The larger accountability question now is what caused the structural damage in the first place and whether it points to a design problem, a construction defect or an oversight failure during earlier work. Those answers matter because the fix is not just a repair bill for a single building. It is a public expense tied to a county facility, one that has already required months of additional work before the bridge can safely reopen.

For now, the visible result is clear: a central downtown connector remains out of service, Silver Street stays closed, and Bernalillo County’s headquarters complex cannot return to normal circulation until the repair work is finished.