RIO RANCHO, N.M. – People in Rio Rancho will be seeing a lot more orange cones on their commute starting Monday. Crews are starting construction on two major road projects on Grande Avenue and on Unser. 

KOB 4 spoke with one resident who says the headaches it causes now will be worth it when it’s all said and done. 

“Every time you take a new route across town you look out into the distance, and you can just see all of the projects, all of the land developer signs saying they are selling houses from the high 300s, whatever it might be. Developments are popping up everywhere, the city is growing and booming,” said Tyler, a Rio Rancho resident. 

Tyler made the move to Rio Rancho right before the pandemic and says after the work from home era he noticed a lot more traffic, especially along Unser. 

“Even on a Sunday with the church traffic for example and people that do their errands, it is a lot of traffic. If you catch the right pattern of lights and get lucky, great, you can get down in 20 minutes or so. If you catch the wrong pattern of lights or heavy traffic, it is going to be double that just to get to the Westside or Paseo,” said Tyler. 

On Monday, that commute could get longer as construction starts for two major projects. 

The first is on Grande Boulevard from 19th Avenue to Sara Road. The nearly $630,000 reconstruction project is set to last through August 2024.    

The other project will impact Unser Boulevard from Cabezon Road to Black Arroyo Boulevard as workers widen the road.

“Unser, I think it is long overdue that this stretch of road is widened,” Tyler said. 

That project is set to last through spring of 2025. 

“Going to have to learn to adapt for the time being, but in the long run it is going to be beneficial to the town,” said Tyler.