Bernalillo County Approves 6.3 Million Fourth Street Road Diet Project

Bernalillo County commissioners approved a $6.3 million contract with Compass Engineering last week to reconstruct Fourth Street between Ortega Road and Alameda Boulevard, setting the North Valley corridor up for a sweeping infrastructure overhaul that will add bike lanes, rebuild drainage and reshape how pedestrians move through the stretch.

The Board of County Commissioners signed off on the award March 24, with Compass Engineering selected as the lowest bidder after the project was advertised in January. Funding had already been secured through the county's Biennial Budget and Road Bonds.

District 4 Commissioner Walt Benson, who represents the area where the work will take place, described what the project delivers. "This project has been in the works for some time," Benson said. "Improvements will include bike lanes, ADA accessibility and new roadways with pavement, curb and gutter. A new drainage system with storm inlets that will release into the Paseo del Norte pond will also be completed."

The county's designation of the work as a Road Diet Project signals more than routine repaving. The redesign carves dedicated bike lanes into a corridor that currently lacks them, builds in ADA-compliant access points and routes stormwater through new inlets feeding the Paseo del Norte pond.

Construction is scheduled to begin this summer and run through the winter of 2027. Bernalillo County's Public Works Division will notify the public about lane closures and delays as work progresses along the corridor.

Benson framed the project as part of a larger economic and safety push tied to a parallel effort next door. "Many drivers, bikers and pedestrians travel along this stretch of 4th Street," he said. "We have been working closely with the Village of Los Ranchos to coordinate our improvements in conjunction with the 4th Street Revitalization Project to create a safer environment, develop a unique identity on 4th Street, keep and attract new businesses and attract private investors."

The coordination with Los Ranchos means the county's reconstruction and the Village's revitalization work are being sequenced together, with the combined effort aimed at drawing sustained commercial investment to Fourth Street's North Valley run.