Get a highway work heads up; clean-up heroes
THE PLIGHT OF THE NIGHTTIME COMMUTER: Wally emails “I am a Big I nighttime driver; almost nightly they change what ramps or lanes are open or closed. It makes getting to work a nightmare, despite almost no traffic. Why can’t they keep single lanes open? Why aren’t they using the orange signage to tell me to get off the freeway early instead of taking a 6-mile detour? They are closing miles of interstates. Where are the closures listed? They just tend to say ‘Big I work 8 p.m.- 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday’ and we’re left to fend for ourselves. I have looked on the nmroads website and nothing is specific for a day-by-day closure. It’s beyond frustrating.”
Wally also reports “a big ugly patch of road just north of MLK on Interstate 25 going toward Lead that wasn’t worked on. That’s the worst stretch. I see they vaguely mentioned work toward Gibson is in the works for August. Does this include full closures? Beyond Central, there are not any frontage roads to go south.
“They’ve had various lanes and roads closed where it appears no true work was done in that immediate area. Where is the oversight? Why couldn’t they have done the MLK-to-Lead I-25 lanes when those roads were already closed for five to six days at a time?”
Wally says “I do appreciate the roads being repaved — although some stretches shouldn’t need it so soon. That’s just bad construction. But I do wish we had a website or chart or heads up on Twitter on what’s closed for the night. Many essential workers are out 12 a.m.-5 a.m. and are missing their shift.”
The N.M. Department of Transportation is on it to do better.
WHY THEY PAVE AT NIGHT: Spokeswoman Kimberly Gallegos says, “Crews have recently been repaving the approaches to the Big I on both I-25 and I-40 at night. The reason crews are working at night is to provide less impacts to traffic. We cannot leave one lane open during a repaving project because crews need to use their equipment on the full length of the roadway.”
WHERE YOU CAN GET INFO: As for the lack of a heads up, she says, “I understand the writer’s frustration. We do post these closures on nmroads.com but they are vague, as sometimes we do not receive the closure information until near the end of the day. I will make sure that future posts are more informative on the ramp or interstate closures for that night, not the duration of the project. Also, the public can sign up for these alerts and filter down to a specific area that they use to commute. These messages also go to our regional transportation management system (RTMC) and the overhead DMS boards are activated informing drivers of the closures.”
I-25 REPAVING ON WAY: And regarding the stretch around MLK, “a project is set to begin on July 16 (and run) to Aug. 7 on I-25 from Lomas to Gibson both north and southbound and will take care of the area in question near MLK. I do not believe this one includes full closures, but if it requires them, again we will provide more thorough information daily on NMroads.com for users to access ahead of time.”
Readers weighed in after last week’s column on the tons of trash picked up in a day by state crews in the revival of the Tos No Mas! campaign.
Dan Kropp says via email the “update on trash is a reminder to all that read the importance of all of us pitching in. Many groups pick up trash twice a year to keep their main roadways clean and build a sense of community.”
And he shares information on a great member of the community who deserves recognition for doing more than his part: “There is an older gentleman who regularly picks up trash along Paseo del Norte NE close to Tramway, and on Tramway near the northern end of Paseo. You’ll see his Subaru Outback parked well off the road in the mornings, while he picks up trash and puts it an orange bucket, wearing an orange vest and hat. I’ve never seen him work with anyone else, and can only guess he likes being outdoors doing something useful.”
And Lance Brasher emails, “Thank you for writing this article. The littering is unfortunate but hopefully getting better over time as people give greater attention to the environment. The DOT clean-up programs are good communitybuilding programs. They are positive and enhance the pride New Mexicans have in their state.”