FARMINGTON — Many participants at a Thursday planning session hosted by the New Mexico Department of Transportation here agreed that a railroad is needed from Thoreau to the Four Corners to transport goods that support oil drilling, agriculture and other industries.
“If we don’t have that infrastructure,” said Ray Hagerman, CEO of Four Corners Economic Development, “we’re not going to get those volumes” in energy production.
About 30 officials from the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry, San Juan County, Farmington, Bloomfield, Aztec, energy companies, banks, manufacturing businesses and other economy-driving groups met at the Farmington Civic Center to give input on the statewide plan.
The plan guides the department of transportation’s decision-making. It will attempt to improve statewide road congestion, transportation safety, environmental impacts and large-project lag times, among other goals, and it also helps the state get federal grants.