New Mexico I-40 Traffic Jams Drawing Media Attention

Above, the Interstate 40 traffic jam near Laguna, New Mexico last week. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Last week, while returning home from Albuquerque, Russell Azbill and I were stuck in a traffic jam for over two hours. The tie-up must've been 15-20 miles in length. What should have been a two-hour drive was turned into a four-hour drive.

This was due to a road construction project near Laguna, New Mexico.

The traffic jam reminded me of the jam in Idaho immediately following the Great American Eclipse in 2017.

The traffic jams from this road project are so bad that even the media is taking notice.

From CDLLife:

Over the weekend, massive traffic delays were reported due to a construction project and a hazmat crash on I-40 in New Mexico, but drivers passing through will get a little relief during the holiday weekend.

The New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) is conducting a 5.5-mile construction project on westbound I-40 from mile marker 111 to mile marker 114 near Laguna. The project began November 11 and is slated to continue through mid December.

The project has resulted in nightmarish traffic backups.

The NMDOT announced a short halt to the project to ease traffic conditions over the Thanksgiving holiday.

To read more, go here. 

And, from KOB 4:

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A major traffic alert for holiday travelers – construction has led to major backups on I-40. 

Chopper 4 flew over I-40 early Sunday and it showed that the back-up really begins in the westbound lane just east of Laguna.

On Saturday, Nov. 20, traffic stretched 30 miles from Laguna to the Route 66 Casino – semis were not moving at all, some folks even got out of their cars waiting for some movement.

“We both just said they are going to be sitting there for hours and hours, I've just never seen anything like that on this road not that big,” said Malia Adache. 

KOB 4 reached out to the Department of Transportation to see if they will open up all lanes of traffic for Thanksgiving. On Sunday, they said barriers are going to stay up because this is an accelerated project. On Monday, NMDOT officials said they will be suspending a portion of the 5.5-mile construction project beginning Wednesday, Nov. 24 through Sunday, Nov. 28.

To read more, go here.