Burro bones stall trail project
Underpass provides link underneath St. Francis north of Cerrillos Road
SANTA FE — The discovery of old burro bones at the construction site of the Acequia Trail Underpass, a $6 million project which was set to be completed Friday, has caused a project delay.
The team working on the pedestrian/bicyclist tunnel beneath St. Francis Drive just north of Cerrillos Road is now “optimistically” expecting a mid-December completion date, according to a Friday news release from a city public works supervisor Leroy Pacheco.
City archeologist Nicole Ramirez-Thomas said in an email that the burro remains found Nov. 22 could have been buried there any time between 1800 and 1940, on what was likely at the time farmland along the Acequia Madre.
“Who knows what the story is, but it is interesting,” Pacheco said of the discovery.
Whenever bones are found on a construction site, workers are required to stop until an archeologist is notified and can direct a plan of action, he added.
As of Friday, Pacheco said construction had resumed outside of the exact discovery site, which was fenced off, excavated and monitored.
Because the full skeleton wasn’t found, Ramirez-Thomas said she may have to follow up if workers find more remains, but construction can resume at the bone site as of Saturday. The bones will be curated at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture.
Initial planning for the tunnel, which is about 150 long and connects the city’s Railyard Park with the New Mexico School for the Deaf, began in 2008. It also is an extension of the existing Acequia Trail, providing a traffic-free path into the Railyard. Most of the money for the project comes from federal funds.
Construction began in 2016 and was intended to span six to nine months, but there were delays this spring over landscaping issues and suspension of construction over last winter. The city said the winter delay was for public safety reasons. Back in October, project leaders announced Dec. 1 as the completion date.