LANL revives talk of new highway to Hill

September 15, 2019

Dear colleagues --

Of interest: two articles published in today's newspapers here in New Mexico.

• LANL revives talk of new route to Hill

• A tall order: Bridge for Los Alamos road could be nation's highest

The Los Alamos site was chosen for its natural isolation and its "scenic" (partly meaning steep) terrain. The managers of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) are now faced with the intractable problems created by that isolation and the absence of building sites. Problems, that is, for the growth at LANL they seek.

With, according to Thom Mason, 60% of LANL's 12,700 person workforce commuting now (roughly 7,600 commuters), and with some 1,400 to 1,500 additional plutonium workers supposedly needed for the 30 pit per year (ppy) production mission, again according to LANL's managers, plus other mission growth foreseen, and with some $13 billion in anticipated capital projects over the coming decade, and with all the people who will be retiring and staying in the Los Alamos community, it is clear that either much more housing, much more mass transit, highly controversial new highways, or else much smaller ambitions, are necessary.

The Los Alamos community does not want either mid-rise housing development or a large population of blue-collar workers in their community. Both would be, or perhaps I should say will be, explosive local political issues. Meanwhile other communities are being forced into carrying the fiscal and market impact of providing housing and public services for Los Alamos commuters.

It can take 1.5 hours to drive from Los Alamos to Santa Fe at rush hour, according to LANL's Chief Operating Officer Kelly Beierschmitt. I am sure he is right.

"Fixing" the commuting problem would require something like a 50% growth in the Los Alamos housing stock.

We do not think that Santa Fe, or what would still be a 70-mile commute to Albuquerque -- mostly on an already-crowded highway -- are viable answers.

LANL is already too big for the mesa.

Already students are camping in tents and living in cars during the summer months. A room with kitchen privileges goes, we are told, for $800/month.

We will be discussing some of these issues in a town hall in the State Capitol Rotunda this coming Tuesday, to which elected officials have been invited. I am sure you will be hearing more about them.

These are just some of the headaches associated with the proposed new pit mission.

Best wishes,

Greg