Frequently Asked Questions

Road construction is overseen by four main areas: the Capital Improvements Section of the Engineering Division in the Department of Public Works, the Engineering Division of the Development Services Department (DSD), Sandoval County, and the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT). The Capital Improvements Section takes care of road construction on capital projects, a list of which can be found on the Current City Projects page. The Engineering Division of DSD handles the road construction of new subdivisions or for commercial development. Sandoval County typically does work outside the City Limits, but occasionally does work within City Limits. NMDOT handles road construction on state roads: NM 528, US 550, and Paseo del Volcan (NM 347).

Please see our Road Work page for construction delays that may be present in the City of Rio Rancho. For areas outside of Rio Rancho you may want to check the New Mexico Department of Transportation’s (New Mexico Roads).

Construction and maintenance of NM 528, as well as, US 550, and Paseo del Volcan (NM 347) is conducted by the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT).

Capital Improvement Projects are City projects to maintain and improve the infrastructure of the City. Please see our Capital Improvements Section for more information.

Capital Improvement Projects are approved by the City’s Governing Body.

Each Capital Improvement Project is funded differently. They can be funded by a combination of grants issued by the State or Federal government, City money generated from City water/wastewater bills, or local taxes.

Each Capital Improvement Project has phases. These phases are typically: preliminary design, final design, and construction. Each phase takes time to complete. Each phase of the project has to be funded and approved by the City’s Governing Body. Thus Capital Improvement Projects are designed years in advance to limit the time it would take to construct the project.

The Engineering Division created standard details and design criteria for City projects. This way each project has a uniform attention to detail and meets standard engineering practices.

The design criteria and standard details are updated as needed or sometimes if other agencies update their standards.

Residential roads may be dug up near the water meter for two reasons: there is a leak that is being repaired or the service line is being replaced. Leaks that are present in the road are the responsibility of the City of Rio Rancho and are fixed as soon as possible, with regards to the other types of leaks that maybe present in the City. Service lines are being replaced as part of an ongoing project known as the Water Service Line Replacement Project. This project has several phases in order to replace aging service lines with new copper ones.