The highway used by White Rock residents to travel to Santa Fe and Espanola will remain open thanks to last-minute negotiations. Energy Department spokesman Al Stotts said April 30 that details of the agreement won’t be released until San Ildefonso Gov. Perry Martinez could inform tribal members. After offers and counter offers were rejected by each side, San Ildefonso planned to erect concrete barriers one minute after midnight if no agreement was reached. The road is heavily used by Los Alamos National Laboratory employees who would have faced a 20-mile detour if the road was closed. Many visitors to Bandelier National Monument also use the road. The state wanted a permanent right to use the road, which the pueblo refused. It said it would close the road because it couldn’t afford the $2.5 million a year needed to maintain it and didn’t want to face liability issues. It also talked about the possibility of making it a toll road. Los Alamos County officials agreed to provide some funding to assist DOE with maintenance. “Closing the road … is a practical issue,” San Ildefonso Lt. Gov. Terry Aguilar had said. “If we are responsible for that stretch of highway … then we will be responsible for safety issues.”
