Sunport Boulevard Extension

Human Impact Partners, along with residents of the San Jose neighborhood, local advocacy organizations, and the New Mexico Department of Health, conducted a health impact assessment (HIA) of the Sunport Boulevard project in south Albuquerque, New Mexico. The project would extend the road as a four-lane divided highway for about a half-mile past its current end at Interstate 25 to the intersection of Broadway Boulevard SE and Woodward Road SE.

The HIA assessed how the extension would affect the local community in terms of exposure to environmental hazards, injuries and collisions, and social connectivity. The HIA also reviewed the revised environmental assessment (REA), which assessed potential impacts from traffic congestion, air quality, multimodal access, and cumulative impacts. It also examined whether the REA included a sufficient range of data and thoroughly considered alternatives to the project. The San Jose resident panel made 14 recommendations to support local health, such as better air-quality monitoring and enforcement of air-quality regulations in the neighborhood and inclusion of facilities to protect pedestrians and bicyclists on roads that will carry more traffic during and after construction. The HIA steering committee and other project partners made nine more recommendations, such as the completion of an environmental impact statement for the extension and any reasonable alternatives under consideration in order to more fully assess impacts on environmental and human health.