The US 84/285 (St. Francis/St. Michael’s) Interchange Study (Study) is being conducted in accordance with the NMDOT’s Location Study Procedures (2015) – the policy document followed by the NMDOT to comply with federal transportation planning and environmental regulations. This guidebook outlines the following phases of project development:
The current Study is one of several steps that were identified in the St. Francis Dr. through City of Santa Fe Corridor Study (Bohannan Huston, Inc. 2010). This analysis was based on a macro-level evaluation that lacked the detail needed to make final design recommendations for any given area. The previous Phase IA St. Francis/St. Michael’s Interchange Alternatives Report (Radian 2018) and current Phase IB Study broaden the investigation of the existing interchange and provide a more detailed analysis of possible improvements.
The current phase of the Study consists of a Phase IB Detailed Evaluation of Alternatives (PDF), which is a continuation of the previous Phase IA Report (PDF). The previous Phase IA Report compiled information on the existing conditions and constraints, established the need for action, developed Study alternatives, and performed an initial screening of those alternatives. The Phase IA Report identified the nine alternatives shown below and compared their benefits and disadvantages. Based on this evaluation, four alternatives were eliminated from further consideration and five alternatives were advanced into Phase IB and evaluated in detail.