In about nine months, Angel Road and Camino de la Tierra will be closed at the Rio Rancho boundary.

A concrete block wall will be erected at the west ends of those roads in Corrales as part of a court order September 9 following years, even decades, of disputes over right-of-way from Rio Rancho to subdivisions there.

Judge John Pope ordered that Angel Road and Camino de la Tierra be closed at the Corrales-Rio Rancho boundary to settle a long-running dispute brought to a head by a developer who wishes to move ahead with an 81-acre subdivision between the boundary and Highway 528.

Curb, Inc.’s Bo Johnson said September 15 he expects the road closure, wall and cul-de-sacs will be constructed in about nine months to a year, after his Arrowhead Ridge East projects gets all approvals through the Rio Rancho planning and zoning department.

Johnson has been trying for more than two years to proceed with his development plans for the territory that lies between Corrales Heights and the Montoyas Arroyo. But the project was stymied because Rio Rancho officials insisted that the Angel Road easement disputes be resolved first.

An attorney for Curb Inc., Rick Leverick, initiated a lawsuit about two years ago to force a resolution. Named in the suit were property owners along Camino de la Tierra and Angel Road, as well as the Village of Corrales.

What Curb Inc. wanted was to relocate the controversial easement to the north side of the property along the arroyo which would better accommodate development plans.

But Camino de la Tierra residents feared that would mean heavy inter-municipal traffic (“another Meadowlark Lane”) for their road.

Most residents along both Angel Road and Camino de la Tierra, but not all, wanted their roads closed at the Rio Rancho boundary to prevent that.

Consensus on the closures was complicated by the fact Village officials were reluctant to lose an emergency evacuation route to the west in the event of spreading wildfires along the east side of Corrales.

That question was definitely resolved when the Village Council voted to take the position in court proceedings that the roads should be closed at the boundary.

A ruling to that effect, among other provisions, came September 9 through Judge Pope A cul-de-sac will be constructed at the end of Corrales’ portion of Angel Road and a “hammerhead” turn-around will go in at the end of Camino de la Tierra. The settlement that the judge signed also calls for a concrete block wall along the boundary and two fire hydrants to serve homes along those roads, assuming the City of Rio Rancho agrees.

But before Curb Inc. can proceed, Johnson will have to submit engineering plans for the subdivision, seek zone changes for the densities and commercial developments sought, and obtain subdivision and development plan approvals through the Rio Rancho planning and zoning department.

The break-through came this spring when the Village of Corrales’ position came into line with the majority of residents who wanted closures.

As Karl Schaefer, one of the more active participants in the suit brought by developer Curb Inc., explained at the May 11 council meeting, “the Village Council and Curb Inc. have agreed that Camino de la Tierra and Angel Road will be cul de sac’d with a permanent wall constructed along the boundary between the Village of Corrales and Rio Rancho.”