Contract awarded for rehabilitation of roadways and parking lots at Elephant Butte Historic District

ALBUQUERQUE, NM. - A rehabilitation project at Elephant Butte Historic District is scheduled to begin Monday, July 7, and will include roadway and parking lot improvements to the Fish Hatchery/Paseo del Rio and Dam Site Recreation Areas. The project is expected to last approximately 7 months.

Whelcon Contractors, LLC was awarded the $7.6 million contract for this portion of the project, which is supported by an investment from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), as well as Federal Lands Transportation Project (FLTP) funds and Bureau of Reclamation appropriated funds.

Much of the existing roadways and parking lots at Elephant Butte date back to the early 20^th century and in the last 50 years only pavement repairs have been completed. The Federal Highway Administration will manage the project which will use asphalt and aggregate base to resurface, restore, and rehabilitate multiple road segments within the Elephant Butte Historic District including: Dam Site Entrance Road, Dam Site Winding Roads, Ruins Road, Hospital Canyon Road, unpaved Dam Site Marina Entrance Road, and Fish Hatchery/Paseo Del Rio Campground Access Road. Six paved parking lots will be rehabilitated and repaved, and four additional gravel/native/paved parking lots will be rehabilitated with aggregate surfacing. The contractor anticipates beginning work at Fish Hatchery the week after the 4th of July holiday and anticipates work at all sites being completed no later than February 2026.

Reclamation is committed to minimizing disruptions during peak recreation seasons and is actively coordinating with the recreation operator and contractor to ensure a seamless experience for visitors while improvements are underway. Public access during the construction period will be modified in some areas to include:

• The Fish Hatchery/Paseo del Rio Recreation Area will be closed to all overnight camping and vehicle access beginning Sunday, July 6, at 8 p.m. 
• All vehicles left unattended in area will be towed. 
• Day use, including walking and fishing will be permitted as long as visitors stay out of the construction areas and respect signs and construction workers. 
• If restrictions are not followed, the Fish Hatchery will be closed to day-use for the safety of the public and workers until the paving is completed. 
• Access to Ruins Road will remain open with limited short-term closures which will be posted in advance.
• Dam Site will remail open except when work begins in the main parking lot and narrow roads in front of the casitas.

"These rehabilitation efforts at Elephant Butte historic District are significant, but we will continue to do our best to reduce impacts to recreation users since we are unable to avoid completing this work during the summer and fall months," said Reclamation Project Manager Hannah Schechter. "We are so pleased to be working again with the Federal Highways Administration on these upgrades, which not only preserve the district's historic character and ensure its long-term sustainability but also create opportunities for future generations to build lasting memories."

This comes after the first construction contract to upgrade utilities at Elephant Butte Historic District which receives over one million visitors annually. Reclamation work began in December 2024 to replace water and wastewater lines, and to replace overhead electric lines with buried electric lines. The project also includes modernizing technology at the historic district with the installation of fiber optic lines and electric vehicle charging stations. Utility construction is expected to be completed in January 2025.

Recreation area enhancements also include redesigning the RV park for more effective use of space, installing new RV hook-ups, and introducing DarkSky Approved lighting in the parking lot and RV park.

For more information about the other improvements ongoing at EBHD, see https://www.usbr.gov/newsroom/news-release/4969. For specific areas impacted by road construction or the historic district utility project, contact Hannah Schechter at (505) 362-2877 or [email protected].