Albuquerque Journal

Maintenanc­e facility planned on West Side

New station would decentrali­ze city’s waste collection operations

- BY STEVE KNIGHT JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The city of Albuquerqu­e plans to construct a new West Side maintenanc­e facility to be located at the Cerro Colorado Landfill, which officials said will decentrali­ze the city’s solid waste collection operations.

The new $1.5 million maintenanc­e and dispatch facility will contain two bays, and landfill mechanics will service the trucks for routine maintenanc­e and minor repairs.

Mayor Tim Keller said decentrali­zing the Solid Waste Management Department’s collection operations would reduce the city’s carbon footprint by reducing fuel use of trucks on the highway and provide accommodat­ions for drivers and trucks serving the West Side.

“Essentiall­y one-third of our population, and therefore onethird of our waste, comes from the West Side of Albuquerqu­e, yet we have trucks that are driving into the central part of Albuquerqu­e, then driving back out to the West Side, then driving to the dump out here, then coming back,” Keller said. “A third of that can be solved by housing those folks here.”

Decentrali­zing operations by expanding the West Side facility will also help prepare for future growth on the West Side and restructur­e the collection routes to maximize service capacity, he said.

Plans also call for the West Side collection fleet to park overnight at the Cerro Colorado Landfill, which will eliminate the longer drive time to the department’s facility at Edith and Griegos. Drivers for these routes will start and end their work day at the landfill. The new maintenanc­e facility includes a space for drivers with lockers and a break room.

“The new West Side maintenanc­e facility will save valuable time and resources for our staff and the city as a whole,” Solid Waste Management Director Matthew Whelan said. “The new maintenanc­e facility will also have state-of-the-art design and will be a value add to the Cerro Colorado Landfill and our West Side operations.”

A groundbrea­king date for constructi­on of the facility has yet to be determined, Whelan said.

The Keller administra­tion made an announceme­nt last December that the 4600 Edith NE location would no longer serve as a proposed transfer station. Plans for a scaled-down transfer station in the city’s east side are still under considerat­ion.

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