I-40’s condition is an embarrassment to New Mexico and a danger to drivers
The Rio Grande Foundation is often on the road around New Mexico. Typically during legislative sessions this means heading up I-25 to Santa Fe, but now that the legislative session is complete that means traveling to other parts of New Mexico. That includes a recent trip to Gallup.
Gallup, of course, is about 2 hours from Albuquerque along I-40. I-40 is arguably the most important road in New Mexico with its heavy freight traffic and large number of automobiles. It has widely been reported that the road is deteriorating and that is backed up by my firsthand account on this recent Gallup trip. Here’s what I found:
- It needs to be expanded to 3 lanes (at least) each way from the Arizona to the Texas line.
- It needs be be shored up and completely repaved throughout much of its length.
- Many on and off ramps (including those in Gallup) need to be re-engineered completely.
The GOOD news? While costly, this is an IDEAL use of New Mexico’s massive oil and gas surpluses. Of course, RGF STILL supports tax reduction, but from the perspective of a Gov. and Legislature that seem to think oil and gas are going to dry up and go away soon, a big investment in a safer, better route across New Mexico would be a wise investment of taxpayer dollars.
Notably, New Mexico has $6 billion in unspent capital outlay money. All or part of this money could pay for a significant portion of expanding I-40 to 3 lanes each way from ABQ to the Arizona line at a cost of $4.8 billion.