Median Makeover
Milan crews hope cement will help conserve water

Kim Chavez, right, fills in holes in a median Tuesday on N.M. 122 in Milan in front of the Milan Supermart before Mark Jaure can grate it so concrete can be poured on it. [Photo by John A. Bowersmith/Independent]

By Tom Purdom
Staff Writer

MILAN — Using village personnel, Milan is cementing in some of the center medians on New Mexico 122 running through the center of town.

"We're doing it for water conservation," said Street Department Supervisor Ben Chavez. "Having the medians covered with cement will eliminate weeds and some dust and the manpower we now use to maintain the center medians can be used somewhere else in the village."

The plan is to cement over about three of the center medians now to see how much water consumption is actually saved by not having to water the plants, how much manpower is saved by not having to pull weeds and making sure the bushes are trimmed back, and how much safer the roads will be if blowing dust is reduced.

"We need to conserve water just the same as we're asking the people of Milan to conserve water," Chavez said. "We'll see how much of a cost-savings there is and if we want to do more of them."

Chavez said the project so far has been a project wanted by the village board of trustees.

On Old Route 66 in Milan, also designated as New Mexico 122, there are about 10 of the center medians. The further east one travels, the larger the center medians are, Chavez said.

The project calls for the center median to be completely cleaned of all plants and weeds and the earth smoothed as much as possible. A fiber mesh is laid and then about three inches of cement is poured into the depression created by the sides of the curbs. Workers stain the cement in places and scrap other portions of the fresh cement to create colorful and unique designs.

Chavez said the crew doing the work is not just doing center median work. "We work on them when we can, along with our other duties," Chavez said.