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[MattHanson939]

But it's typical of New Mexico to do things on the cheap.

Most of the projects done in Albuquerque were actually done right in comparison to a lot of projects the rest of the state, IMO.  For instance, they especially did a really good job with the Big-I reconstruction in 2000-02, but they also did a good job with widening I-40 between Carlisle and Pennsylvania Street in the late 2000s (including rebuilding the San Mateo interchange).  I also thought NMDOT did a good job with upgrading US 84/285 between Santa Fe and Pojoaque to freeway standards; the only thing is that project wrapped up almost a year later than scheduled.

Now the NMDOT is talking about redoing the I-40/Rio Grande Blvd. interchange to a diverging diamond to reduce backups on the interstate, in addition to I-25 at Montgomery/Montaño and Comanche and I-25 between Central and Gibson.  I-40 was widened from 6 to 8-10 lanes between Coors and 6th Street in the late 1990s, but traffic gets backed up at Rio Grande Blvd. during rush hour.

But yeah, I agree that at least some projects in New Mexico were done on the cheap, like NM 44/US 550 was.  That being said, there are two problems with NM 4 between East Jemez Rd. (called the "truck route" by locals residing in Los Alamos County) and Rover Blvd. in White Rock.  First, that stretch gets backed up during the evening commute going eastbound.  Second, the asphalt is showing more signs of wear-and-tear than before; and the the painted lines to mark the lanes are fading away.  Good thing is they're going to start redoing the intersection at East Jemez Road this spring to reduce congestion.  But they could also at least resurface that stretch of NM 4 like they did with the stretch between East Jemez Rd. and the eastern terminus at NM 502.

[abqtraveler]

But it's typical of New Mexico to do things on the cheap.

Most of the projects done in Albuquerque were actually done right in comparison to a lot of projects the rest of the state, IMO.  For instance, they especially did a really good job with the Big-I reconstruction in 2000-02, but they also did a good job with widening I-40 between Carlisle and Pennsylvania Street in the late 2000s (including rebuilding the San Mateo interchange).  I also thought NMDOT did a good job with upgrading US 84/285 between Santa Fe and Pojoaque to freeway standards; the only thing is that project wrapped up almost a year later than scheduled.

Now the NMDOT is talking about redoing the I-40/Rio Grande Blvd. interchange to a diverging diamond to reduce backups on the interstate, in addition to I-25 at Montgomery/Montaño and Comanche and I-25 between Central and Gibson.  I-40 was widened from 6 to 8-10 lanes between Coors and 6th Street in the late 1990s, but traffic gets backed up at Rio Grande Blvd. during rush hour.

But yeah, I agree that at least some projects in New Mexico were done on the cheap, like NM 44/US 550 was.  That being said, there are two problems with NM 4 between East Jemez Rd. (called the "truck route" by locals residing in Los Alamos County) and Rover Blvd. in White Rock.  First, that stretch gets backed up during the evening commute going eastbound.  Second, the asphalt is showing more signs of wear-and-tear than before; and the the painted lines to mark the lanes are fading away.  Good thing is they're going to start redoing the intersection at East Jemez Road this spring to reduce congestion.  But they could also at least resurface that stretch of NM 4 like they did with the stretch between East Jemez Rd. and the eastern terminus at NM 502.

The Big-I was done well, save for the one-lane ramp from I-40 WB to I-25 NB. That should have been built as a 2-lane ramp, like all of the others within the interchange. 

[kphoger]

The one that most annoyed me on my most recent trip through New Mexico was US-82 between Lovington and the Texas state line, which is posted at 60 mph for whatever reason.  Nearby, US-380 is basically equivalent, yet it has a 65 mph limit.

I guess maybe the shoulder is one or two feet narrower?  I'm not sure I even buy that, though, because US-54 is posted at 65 mph, yet its shoulder doesn't seem as wide as that on US-380 either.

[Bobby5280]

Could the lower posted speed limit be due to the greater number of oil field related stuff along that stretch of US-82? That seems to be the main difference between it and US-380 to the North.

[abqtraveler]

Could the lower posted speed limit be due to the greater number of oil field related stuff along that stretch of US-82? That seems to be the main difference between it and US-380 to the North.

Looking at GSV, US-82 appears to be of a much older design with narrower lanes and shoulders. US-380 looks like it was reconstructed to a more modern design with standard 12-foot lanes and (I'm guessing) 8-foot shoulders, some time before 2007 (when the earliest GSV images are available)

[sprjus4]

The roadway is basically not much different, and immediately jumps from 60 mph to 75 mph upon entering Texas, and doesn’t change much more either.

Just seems like an artificially low limit, IMO.

[abqtraveler]

The roadway is basically not much different, and immediately jumps from 60 mph to 75 mph upon entering Texas, and doesn’t change much more either.

Just seems like an artificially low limit, IMO.

I think it also has to do with how speed limits are set in each state. In Texas, speed limits are set based on population density, which is why you see a lot of 2-lane roads in rural Texas with 75 MPH speed limits. In contrast, New Mexico law dictates maximum speed limits based on road classification, regardless of if it runs through an urban, suburban, or rural area.

And unlike Texas where speed limits are set by TxDOT, New Mexico's speed limits are codified into law, meaning only the New Mexico Legislature can approve a change to the maximum speed limit for each road classification. To be clear, the speed limits for each road classification in New Mexico are the maximum, and NMDOT can always set the speed limit lower than what's prescribed by law, based on engineering studies and "professional judgment." But for NMDOT to set a higher speed limit would require legislative approval.

[MattHanson939]

New Mexico law dictates maximum speed limits based on road classification, regardless of if it runs through an urban, suburban, or rural area.

And unlike Texas where speed limits are set by TxDOT, New Mexico's speed limits are codified into law, meaning only the New Mexico Legislature can approve a change to the maximum speed limit for each road classification. To be clear, the speed limits for each road classification in New Mexico are the maximum, and NMDOT can always set the speed limit lower than what's prescribed by law, based on engineering studies and "professional judgment." But for NMDOT to set a higher speed limit would require legislative approval.

That's interesting because during the 2000s and 2010s, I've seen speed limits get raised because of engineering studies deciding that higher speeds were indeed safe for certain stretches of highways.  It didn't matter what type of road it was.  In fact, there are two stretches of highway in NM that aren't freeways where the speed limit is 75 mph.  For instance:

• US 84/285 between the NM 599 interchange and Guadalupe Street in Santa Fe used to be posted at 45 mph; but around 2007, it was raised to 55 mph after an engineering study.
• In 2012, I-10 from Las Cruces to the Texas state line was raised from 70 mph to 75 mph.
• Around May 2014, the speed limit on I-25 between US 550 in Bernalillo to Tramway Blvd. in Albuquerque was also raised from 70 mph to 75 mph.
• US 70 through White Sands is 75 mph, and it's not a freeway.
• In late 2018, US 285 between Roswell & Vaughn also had its speed limit raised from 70 mph to 75 mph; and like the stretch of US 70 mentioned above, it's also not a freeway.

The only places I've seen that used to have higher limits but then got lowered for ridiculous reasons or no reason are two highways in the northern part of NM.  As previously mentioned, NM 502 between the junction with NM 30 and Pojoaque Valley High School used to have a 65 mph limit, and it got lowered to 55 mph in 2007.  A year later, NM 30 was lowered from 60 mph to 55 mph.  I-25 between Central and Gibson Blvd. in Albuquerque was lowered to 55 mph in 2004; but unlike the two instances I mentioned above, that one was reasonable because that particular stretch wasn't designed to be driven at 65 or higher due to closely spaced interchanges, shorter exit and entrance ramps, and a tight S-curve between Coal/Lead and Avenida Cesar Chavez.

[sprjus4]

The roadway is basically not much different, and immediately jumps from 60 mph to 75 mph upon entering Texas, and doesn’t change much more either.

Just seems like an artificially low limit, IMO.

I think it also has to do with how speed limits are set in each state. In Texas, speed limits are set based on population density, which is why you see a lot of 2-lane roads in rural Texas with 75 MPH speed limits. In contrast, New Mexico law dictates maximum speed limits based on road classification, regardless of if it runs through an urban, suburban, or rural area.

And unlike Texas where speed limits are set by TxDOT, New Mexico's speed limits are codified into law, meaning only the New Mexico Legislature can approve a change to the maximum speed limit for each road classification. To be clear, the speed limits for each road classification in New Mexico are the maximum, and NMDOT can always set the speed limit lower than what's prescribed by law, based on engineering studies and "professional judgment." But for NMDOT to set a higher speed limit would require legislative approval.

New Mexico has the full authority to bump the speed limit from 60 mph to 65 mph on US-82.

Interestingly enough, New Mexico used to have a default 75 mph limit on unmarked roads, including narrow 2 lane. That was rolled back to 55 mph.

[roadman65]

Maybe ifs a speed trap for those entering from Texas? ^^^^^

[kphoger]

Maybe ifs a speed trap for those entering from Texas?

Fortunately for me, I guess, I drove it heading into Texas.  So, rather than having to slow down from 75 to 60 for no good reason, I got to speed up instead.

And the slow speed limit was the least of my headaches that day, as it was just a small part of the Tumbleweed-ageddon trip.

On the way back, we hit some crazy winds and, on NM-483 heading north toward Lovington, we had a tumbleweed adventure.  There were strong sustained winds from the west that day, and a good stretch of NM-483 must lie in a slight depression between the fence lines.  So here's the situation that was created:

The wind would blow tumbleweeds up against the western fence line.  Eventually, the weeds would pile up to form a sort of siege ramp, which then allowed all the ones after them to just roll up the ramp and down onto the highway.  Some of them made it across the highway to the eastern fence line, and the same thing would ensue on that side.  However, down on the highway depression itself, the wind was substantially less strong, so a lot of weeds simply piled up on the pavement.

When I say "a lot", I mean it!  For probably a mile or more, it was literally impossible to see the pavement at all, and we "waded" through a sea of tumbleweeds that reached up to the grill.  Every so often, we'd catch a glimpse of the edge line or the center stripe, but most of the time it was guesswork to stay on the road.  With tumbleweeds cascading over the hood of our car, we plowed through at 15 to 25 mph.  Occasionally, a trucker would roar by in the other lane, sending an avalanche of weeds over our car;  at that point, we'd switch over and drive in the left lane, in the tracks of matted-down weeds left by the trucker, until we came upon another oncoming vehicle and would switch back to the right side again.  I say "we", but my wife was driving that stretch;  I guess my role was moral support and technical advice.

When we finally made it out of the "sea", we pulled to a stop in the middle of the travel lane.  Barehanded (ouch!), I had to reach up under the grill and pull out mats of wedged tumbleweeds.  Then I went around to the side of the car and had my wife drive very slowly while I pulled weeds out from inside the wheel wells and behind the wheels—trusting that she wouldn't suddenly accelerate and rip my forearm off.  When we got into Lovington—wind whipping dust and tumbleweed bits and chaff all around—we pulled into a parking lot and did another round of weed pulling.  Days after returning home, while I was checking the air filter, I found myself pulling tumbleweed pieces out from on top of the transmission.

↓  Here is a picture of the beginning of the adventure.  This is before it got "really" bad.



From there, the winds didn't stop.  Heading north from Plains (TX), we drove through sustained 25-35 mph crosswinds.  Because that part of Texas seems to grow a lot of dirt in their fields rather than crops, that meant driving through periodic dust storms that reduced visibility by as much as a snowstorm.  Then, just as dirt farms gave way to crops, the rain started.  By the time we stopped for gas at Vega, the wind had ripped the decal off the windward side of our cargo box.

In Friona, I drove a specific route in order to pass through the intersection of TX-214-Business and FM-2397-Spur, with the intention of taking a picture of the assembly to share on this site.  But the rain was still strong, so I didn't feel like stopping and getting drenched.

By the way, those tumbleweeds did a number on the car's C/V axle seals.  We had to have them replaced in March, even though they had just been installed seven months earlier (just before our trip).

[abqtraveler]

The roadway is basically not much different, and immediately jumps from 60 mph to 75 mph upon entering Texas, and doesn’t change much more either.

Just seems like an artificially low limit, IMO.

I think it also has to do with how speed limits are set in each state. In Texas, speed limits are set based on population density, which is why you see a lot of 2-lane roads in rural Texas with 75 MPH speed limits. In contrast, New Mexico law dictates maximum speed limits based on road classification, regardless of if it runs through an urban, suburban, or rural area.

And unlike Texas where speed limits are set by TxDOT, New Mexico's speed limits are codified into law, meaning only the New Mexico Legislature can approve a change to the maximum speed limit for each road classification. To be clear, the speed limits for each road classification in New Mexico are the maximum, and NMDOT can always set the speed limit lower than what's prescribed by law, based on engineering studies and "professional judgment." But for NMDOT to set a higher speed limit would require legislative approval.

New Mexico has the full authority to bump the speed limit from 60 mph to 65 mph on US-82.

Interestingly enough, New Mexico used to have a default 75 mph limit on unmarked roads, including narrow 2 lane. That was rolled back to 55 mph.

That rollback occurred when Susana Martinez was governor. It was a bit crazy when the default speed limit was 75 mph because someone could travel on an unpaved county road with no posted speed limit at 75 mph and not have to worry about getting a ticket, although that driver would probably have a huge bill for all of the repairs to their vehicle afterwards.

[sprjus4]

^ Perhaps for unpaved, but I’d argue the 75 mph speed limit on a paved road with enough room for two cars to pass with a little bit of “fudge” room (wider lane, shoulder, etc.) is reasonable.

[Bobby5280]

There is no way I would drive through a bunch of tumbleweeds like that. I'd turn around and back-track to a route around it. Granted, there isn't a lot of alternative route choices in New Mexico. But considering the damage an enormous log-jam of tumbleweeds can do to a vehicle, it's worth it to back-track, even if you're back-tracking hundreds of miles.

[Rothman]

There is no way I would drive through a bunch of tumbleweeds like that. I'd turn around and back-track to a route around it. Granted, there isn't a lot of alternative route choices in New Mexico. But considering the damage an enormous log-jam of tumbleweeds can do to a vehicle, it's worth it to back-track, even if you're back-tracking hundreds of miles.

Huh.  There was one time I was driving on I-80 from NV to Salt Lake and there were hundreds of tumbleweeds blowing across the Interstate.  They were so light that they blew right around the vehicles and did no harm.

Then again, I wouldn't drive through a pile of them.

[Bobby5280]

I can imagine those things doing a number on a vehicle's paint job.

[abqtraveler]

I can imagine those things doing a number on a vehicle's paint job.

Tumbleweeds can scratch a vehicle's paint, but it takes a lot of them to do so.

[Bobby5280]

It takes a whole lot of them to pile up enough to block a highway. The other vehicle issues that kphoger described didn't sound real cheap and convenient to fix either.

[kphoger]

I can imagine those things doing a number on a vehicle's paint job.

I've never cared about paint scratches.  It helps having a silver car, though...

It takes a whole lot of them to pile up enough to block a highway. The other vehicle issues that kphoger described didn't sound real cheap and convenient to fix either.

No, not cheap.