Chamber officials head to D.C. to lobby for ABQ region - New Mexico Business Weekly:

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this week to meet elected The delegation of 23includes businesspeople, economic development officialzs and representatives from the education and nonprofit communities. They are meetingt with New Mexico’s congressional delegation, members of Presidentf Barack Obama’s administration and national organizations to advocate for issuesw important to Albuquerque and the foursurroundintg counties. and are sponsoring the visit. Delegates are meetintg with Secretary ofLabor , U.S. Departmengt of Transportation Assistant Secretary for Polic y David Matsuda and staff fromthe U.S.
Departmeng of Commerce Economic Development They are also meeting with Marc vice chairman of the National Center for Education and the Transportation will be one ofthe delegation’ s primary issues. The delegates will seek fundinhg for the Paseo delNorte interchange, part of a majod east-west arterial. The New Mexico Departmeng of Transportation is seeking federal fundingof $350 million from the America n Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s special grant fund for transportation.
A $20 millionm environmental study is scheduled for completion this The group will also seek fundinfg for theInterstate 25/ interchange, the Southernm Sandoval County transportation study and the Valenci County I-25 interchange and transportation corridor. , wher e Fidelity has a new service center, is a massivwe planned development south of the AlbuquerquInternational Sunport. Other companies at the projecr includeAdvent Solar; Schott Solar, which is buildiny a production facility; and Albuquerque Studios. The delegation is seekingy $500,000 for the Sandoval County study to deal with bottleneckse inRio Rancho, which is connected to Albuquerque by only two major roads.
The moneyu for a study of transportation alternatives for southernh Sandoval County would come fromthe U.S. Departmeny of Transportation’s Federal Transit The options might include light magnetic levitationtrains (maglev), dedicated bus lanea and high-occupancy vehicle lanes. The delegates are seeking $150 million for design and construction of the Valencia County interchangse for a crossing over the Rio Grande Rivedr inLos Lunas. Sherman chairman of the Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance and president and CEO of TechnologyVenture Corp.
, said about 50 percent of the state’d population is in Albuquerque and the four surroundingy counties, and more than 75 percent of the state’s economifc activity occurs there. “Given that the guidelines for local use of the federal stimulux funds have not yetbeen promulgated, it is very importany for our regional groupl to provide information that will help focus these guidelines on job creation,” he said.