Those who live in Sandia Park or nearby have probably noticed that a mile of roadway on N.M. 14, just north of Frost Road, is being widened.

Work for the $350,000 project is being done by the New Mexico Department of Transportation and will add 24 feet to the roadway.

When completed, there will be a 12-foot-wide turning lane and 6-foot shoulders on that stretch of road, according to NMDOT public information officer Phil Gallegos.

The project began April 1 was expected to last less than a month, but may stretch on until June 30, he said. Gallegos said highway construction projects are sometimes like home remodeling projects, where wiring and load-bearing walls turn a simple task into something of a nightmare.

In this case, it was existing utilities and confusion over easements that slowed the project.

"When you're starting with a fresh pallet, that's one thing," he said. "(Making a change on existing roadways) is not always exactly the way you wanted it to turn out."

A project at Carnuel Land Grant Hall on Old Route 66 in Carnuel is another that has been in the works for some time. The work being done, which was paid for through grant money, will both level the hall's parking lot, and add water, sewage and electric systems to the portable building nearby. Having a working bathroom in the portable building is important because that way children won't have to go through the hall's bar area to use the bathroom in Land Grant Hall, according to Cañon de Carnue Land Grant President Yolanda Garcia.

The improvements will also make for a working kitchen in the portable building and make its conference room more useful, she said. The building has been in place since last year, she said.

"We've been waiting a long time for this," she said. "Right now it's very haphazard."

Part of the delay was caused by a large amount of rock that was turned up during construction, she said.

Another project just off Old Route 66 is likely being done by Qwest, according to NMDOT public information officer Karyn Lujan. She said Qwest took out a utility permit on NMDOT's right of way on the roadway near the border of Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties.

While Qwest spokesman Mark Molzen would not go into specifics, he gave this response to questions about whether fiber optic lines were being installed:

"Qwest is continually investing in our fiber network in New Mexico," he said. "We're building several fiber routes in Bernalillo County and Santa Fe County."