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

  • Heinrich Urges Increased Funding For Affordable Housing

    April 23, 2019) - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) joined 40 of his colleagues on a bipartisan letter urging increased funding for the Section 4 Capacity Building program. The Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Section 4 Program works with local community development organizations to improve affordable housing, finance small businesses, and provide for other community needs. Last year alone, New Mexico organizations received over $215,000 in funding under Section 4 and recipients included organizations like New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, Ohkay Owingeh Housing Authority, Santo Domingo Tribal Housing Authority, Tierra del Sol Housing Corporation, and Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative. Read More

  • Udall, Heinrich, Torres Small Announce $7.89 Million to Upgrade and Improve Rural Water Infrastructure in Socorro

    WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, along with U.S. Representative Xochitl Torres Small, announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development has awarded $7,892,462 in funding to help upgrade and improve rural water infrastructure in the City of Socorro. The award, which was funded through the USDA's Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant program, includes $4,950,000 in low-cost loans and $2,942,462 in grants for projects that will increase access to clean water, benefitting businesses, communities, and residents across Socorro. Read More

  • Bipartisan Group of Senators Urge Amtrak to Continue Support for Routes That Connect Rural Communities in NM & Across the U.S.

    WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Pat Roberts (R-Kans.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Jerry Moran (R-Kans.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Joe Manchin (D-W. VA.), Dick Durbin (D- Ill.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) are calling on Amtrak to continue service to rural communities in New Mexico and across the U.S. by investing in long-distance and state-supported routes. Read More

  • 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