Transportation & Infrastructure

A safe, efficient transportation system and strong basic infrastructure helps move New Mexico forward and support our local economy. 

Investments in public transit, paved roads, and alternative forms of transportation, are critical to meeting our future needs and provide the groundwork for economic development and job creation in New Mexico. I am committed to ensuring New Mexico has adequate and safe roads and a reliable public transportation system for future generations of New Mexicans to use.

Efficient broadband infrastructure, drinking water and sewer lines and modern wastewater treatment facilities are critical to our economic development. I am also committed to ensuring we continue to develop plans to modernize our electrical transmission infrastructure, so we can accelerate development and implementation of renewable energy technologies.

Future growth in New Mexico’s burgeoning science and technology companies will heavily rely on having the basic infrastructure and resources they need to thrive.

I am a strong supporter of investing in basic infrastructure and believe that it will not only help meet our transportation and technology needs, but will also assist in putting us back on a sustainable path of economic growth.

Latest

  • Udall, Heinrich Repeat Call for Senate Hearing on Aviation Safety Issues with FAA

    WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich wrote to the Senate Commerce Committee leadership to support the committee's call for a hearing on aviation safety issues with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the wake of two fatal crashes involving Boeing 737 Max 8 jets, and to request that that the hearing also include a discussion about engine safety issues that caused a Southwest Airlines crash last year, which resulted in the death of a New Mexico constituent. Read More

  • Bipartisan Coalition of Senators Secures $3 Million Grant Match for Southwest Chief

    WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) – all senators who represent states through which the Southwest Chief route runs – today announced that Amtrak at long last will provide $3 million in matching funds to complete the federal TIGER IX grant awarded in January of 2018 for safety upgrades and maintenance on the train's route in Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico. Read More

  • Udall, Heinrich, Luján Secure Additional $50 Million to Keep Southwest Chief on Track

    WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Representative Ben Ray Luján announced that their bipartisan measure to provide an additional $50 million in federal funding to help maintain Amtrak train services along the established, long-distance passenger rail route of the Southwest Chief was signed into law as part of the Fiscal Year 2019 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (T-HUD) appropriations bill. Read More

  • Udall, Heinrich, Luján Announce Nearly $2.5 Million for Rail Runner Safety Upgrades

    WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Representative Ben Ray Luján announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded $2,496,842 in federal funding to the Rio Metro Regional Transit District (RTD) to make critical improvements to the New Mexico Rail Runner Express system's Wi-Fi network that will support full implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) technology, a federally mandated safety system designed to prevent train accidents and derailments. The improved technology is essential to providing a reliable path of communication for an effective Positive Train Control system. Read More

  • Study: Bisecting Southwest Chief rail service a costly plan

    A study commissioned by the Rail Passengers Association says that local economies along the route of the Amtrak's Southwest Chief passenger train between Albuquerque and Dodge City, Kan., would be derailed by as much as $116.4 million annually if Amtrak were to substitute rail service between the two cities with charter buses. Read More

  • Heinrich: Act on energy, education

    SANTA FE - U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich called on state lawmakers Friday to pass legislation dealing with renewable energy, climate change and early childhood education during their ongoing 60-day legislation. Read More

  • Udall, Heinrich Secure Provisions Making Acequias and Land Grants Eligible for Grants and Technical Assistance

    WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich announced that they secured a provision in the 2018 Farm Bill, which passed the Senate by a vote of 87-13, to make acequias and land grant-mercedes eligible for grants and technical assistance from conservation and environmental programs through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) to increase agricultural water efficiency and further conservation of soil, water, and other natural resources. Read More

  • Udall, Heinrich, Luján, Lujan Grisham Announce an Additional $10.48 Million for NM Water Infrastructure Projects from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

    WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, along with U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Luján and Michelle Lujan Grisham, announced that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has allocated over $10,478,478 in additional money for water resources projects across New Mexico, including funding to rehabilitate the Turley Acequia in San Juan County, reimburse counties and cities for major water and wastewater infrastructure projects in the Albuquerque region, complete a feasibility study to improve flood control along the Rio Grande, and fully fund the Tribal Partnership Program. The funding comes at the request of Udall, Heinrich, Luján, and Lujan Grisham, who fought to advance New Mexico water infrastructure priorities in the Fiscal Year 2018 omnibus appropriations bill. Read More

  • 10 Year Extension To US EV Tax Credit Proposed

    Several Democratic Senators and Representatives have introduced legislation to extend the US federal tax credit for zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs) by 10 years. The extension is wrapped in the Electric Cars Act of 2018. Read More