Informational meeting 4:30 to 5:30 at Glenwood Community Center

SILVER CITY, NM, October 6, 2023 – The Federal Highway Administration, along with New Mexico Department of Transportation and the Gila National Forest will host an informational public meeting to discuss construction activities coming soon on New Mexico Highway 174 (NM 174), the Catwalk Access Road. We hope you’ll join us Monday, October 16 from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Glenwood Community Center, 21 Menges Lane in Glenwood, New Mexico.

“This project is intended to increase the resiliency of the roadway during flood events and provide safe and reliable access to the Catwalk Trail,” said Glenwood District Ranger Brian Stultz. “Further, the project intends to improve the safety of the route, by providing lane widths that can more easily be negotiated by recreational vehicles and trucks that use the route.”

This project has taken years to come to fruition – it was initiated through New Mexico Department of Transportation’s 2015 application to the Federal Highways Administration for the agency’s Federal Lands Access Program funds to explore providing safe, reliable, and resilient access to the Catwalk Trail. Federal Highways Administration completed a final Categorical Exclusion in 2019. The final design, acquisition of rights of way and easements and US Army Corps of Engineers permitting took place from 2019 through 2022. The construction contract was awarded in September 2023, with construction work set to begin this fall.

In 2012, the Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire burned 25,000 acres of the Whitewater Creek watershed. In September 2013, the Glenwood area received 17 inches of rain in under two weeks. The subsequent flooding resulted in significant roadway damage and debris flows in drainages along NM 174. The roadway was closed until 2014 when it could be cleared of debris and repaired. For more information contact Maribeth Pecotte at 575-388-8211 or Maribeth.Pecotte@usda.gov.