Galisteo residents applaud county ordinance prohibiting semis' engine brakes

Mar. 12—Fifty years ago, Romona Scholder and her husband moved into an adobe home in Galisteo that was built in the late 1800s.

Only a handful of cars would pass through the village each day at that time, so the couple didn't think living on N.M. 41 would be a problem.

In recent years, however, the state highway has increasingly become a thoroughfare for commuters and large trucks, threatening not only the character of the rural community but also its historic buildings, Scholder and other residents say.

"[My house] has withstood the test of time," Scholder said. "We will see whether it will withstand the test of trucks."

Galisteo residents believe an ordinance passed unanimously Tuesday night by the Santa Fe County Commission is a step in the right direction to protect their community of a few hundred people. The ordinance will prohibit compression release engine brakes, known as Jake Brakes, and other engine retarders for two miles along N.M. 41 through Galisteo.

These supplemental braking devices, already prohibited in other areas of Santa Fe County, help slow down large vehicles, but cause loud noises.

Galisteo Community Association President Anna Cárdenas, a lifelong area resident, said County Commissioner Camilla Bustamante helped residents push the ordinance with the hope it will encourage large trucks to slow down before they reach the community.

Bustamante said Tuesday the ordinance will "help in a small way to calm a bit of the large truck traffic" through the village.

The big problem is both commuters in smaller vehicles and large trucks "are just whizzing through" Galisteo, rather than slowing down to the 30 or 35 mph speed limit through the village, Cárdenas said. "You can't take just a leisurely walk, you know, because you've got to always constantly be watching the traffic coming up.

"I mean, that's why we're out here, you know? I like being able to look out my window, and I see the mountains and the trees and birds and bunnies running around, and it's awesome," she added. "You walk around and you see your neighbors, and you're happy to see them; they're happy to see you. ... I love it, and that's why we're so protective of it because you don't want to see these things being destroyed."

Many residents described feeling vibrations from large trucks rolling through town, which they fear will damage historic buildings still in use, such as a church built in 1884, a dance hall built in the 1890s and centuries-old homes.

Some residents previously told The New Mexican vibrations from an ongoing project to widen and resurface N.M. 41, which began in late 2021, already have caused cracks in their homes. Officials with the state Department of Transportation have denied vibrations from construction are strong enough to damage buildings.

Residents also are concerned a new fuel depot under construction in Moriarty might dramatically increase oil tanker traffic through Galisteo.

Enterprise Products, based in Houston, plans to open the fuel depot during the first half of this year, spokesman Rick Rainey said. The company expects about 100 trucks to pick up fuel from the site daily, though it's unclear how many of the tankers will drive through Galisteo.

Cárdenas said construction of the fuel depot "definitely sent up red flags" among Galisteo residents.

"That's the terrible part about it. We don't know what it's going to become, or what it could become," she said. "Can you imagine 100 trucks going through this tiny little village ... on a daily basis?"

Many drivers go through Galisteo as a shortcut between Interstate 25 and Interstate 40, which according to Google Maps would shave about 15 minutes off a trip compared to a route that includes nearby U.S. 285.

If trucks didn't use the shortcut, "that would solve the problem completely, but I just fear that's not going to be the case," resident Woody Gwyn said. "I guess that would take away from their profit margin."

Gwyn said he is "very concerned" about damage to his house, which was originally a trading post. The core of the house could date back as far as 1710, he said, and in photographs from the 1880s, "it looks exactly like it does now."

"I'm doing everything I can to protect [and] preserve it," Gwyn said.

The noises and subtle tremors from trucks rolling through the village, "like a low, rumbling thunder," are already too common, said Timothy Willms, who owns — and plans to someday restore — the village's historic Tienda Anaya, which also sits right along the road.

"I'm not certain what the best solution is because this village certainly wasn't built for and was never intended to have this type of traffic go through it. It wasn't designed that way," Willms said.

"I'm not a city planner or highway engineer or designer," he added, but "to preserve the integrity and the historical importance of the village, something should be done."