Today's intersection: Santa Fe's mansion tax and the I-25 commute

Santa Fe remains a top travel and leisure destination where median home prices have jumped to $800,000 while more people leave the city for more rural parts of the county.

Unofficial results from the Nov. 7 local election report more than 73% cast ballots in favor of a new excise tax on high-end home sales while 27% voted against the measure. Under the measure, the buyer of a home will pay a 3% tax on the portion of any sale that exceeds $1 million. Sylvia Chavez, a lifelong resident of Santa Fe who lives in District 2, voted yes on Election Day. Chavez tells [the Santa Fe Reporter] she supported the tax to combat displacement of native Santafesinos. [Voters: Yes on Mansion Tax]

The New Mexico Department of Transportation has moved the two northbound lanes to the southbound lanes of I-25 constricting traffic and slowing commuters sometimes to a crawl or even stopping thousands of vehicles on La Bajada Hill.

For many commuters who drive between Santa Fe and Albuquerque each day, the trek on Interstate 25 seems more time-consuming and dangerous than ever, with near-daily crashes and a long-term construction project along the route. State police have cracked down on traffic violations in the construction zone in response to a spike in speeding-related crashes. As of Wednesday, police had issued 679 traffic tickets around the La Bajada construction zone as part of an operation targeting speeding and aggressive driving launched a month ago. A measurement location near La Bajada averaged a daily traffic volume of about 32,000 to 33,000 during those years, with a low of about 29,000 in 2020 — the height of the pandemic. For some, the solution to the daily aggravations and dangers of commuting on I-25 has been a pass for the Rail Runner Express commuter train, which runs largely along the highway from Belen to Santa Fe. [Construction, crashes on I-25 worry commuters]

The New Mexico Rail Runner goes through several pueblos and is well-supported with stops in each community so it has brought at least access to prosperity in an historically poor state.

Passenger rail could return to Colorado's Yampa Valley as that state's Department of Transportation partners with the Front Range Passenger Rail District on planning service from Pueblo, through Denver, to Fort Collins and ultimately to Wyoming and New Mexico.