State Road 136 (NM 136) is a , paved, four-lane, divided state highway in

Doña Ana County Don (; ; pt, Dom, links=no ; all from Latin ', roughly 'Lord'), abbreviated as D., is an honorific prefix primarily used in Spain and Hispanic America, and with different connotations also in Italy, Portugal and its former colonies, and Croatia ...

in the U.S. state of

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

. It travels largely south-to-north. NM 136 is an important connecting road between the border and Interstate 10 (I-10). The southern terminus of NM 136 is at the Santa Teresa Port of Entry on the

Mexican border Mexico shares international borders with three nations: *To the north the United States–Mexico border, which extends for a length of through the states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. *To the southe ...

. The northern terminus is in Santa Teresa at the Texas state line. The road continues as State Highway 178 (SH 178) in Texas.

Route description

The highway begins at the Santa Teresa Port of Entry on the Mexican border. The road heads north through the

Chihuahuan Desert The Chihuahuan Desert ( es, Desierto de Chihuahua, ) is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lo ...

and after about intersects with Doña Ana County Road A003, connecting to NM 9. Continuing north, NM 136 crosses the railroad tracks of the

Union Pacific Railway The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

south of intersection with Airport Road which provides access to the Doña Ana County Airport, Union Pacific Santa Teresa Facility, and War Eagles Museum. After passing by the airport, the highway turns east and enters Santa Teresa where it intersects with NM 273. Continuing east the road reaches its northern terminus at the Texas state line.

History

The original Route 136 was established in mid-1930s as a replacement for Route 106 connecting

and

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, northwest of Chama. This road became

U.S. Route 84 U.S. Route 84 (US 84) is an east–west U.S. Highway that started as a short Georgia–Alabama route in the original 1926 scheme. Later, in 1941, it had been extended all the way to Colorado. The highway's eastern terminus is a short dista ...

(US 84) in the early 1940s. NM 136 was approved and built by the New Mexico State Highway Commission concurrently with SH 178 and Santa Teresa Port of Entry in 1988-1990, and officially opened in 1991. Santa Teresa Port of Entry was opened in 1992 and was designed to alleviate cross-border traffic through other border crossings in central

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

. Both NM 136 and SH 178 were built to accommodate heavy tractor-trailers and provide ready access to I-10 northwest of El Paso. Leroy Sandoval, former Transportation Planning Division Director, appeared before the New Mexico State Highway Commission and requested the Commission designate NM 136 as the Pete V. Domenici International Highway in honor of New Mexico senator

Pete Domenici Pietro Vichi "Pete" Domenici (May 7, 1932 – September 13, 2017) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States Senator from New Mexico from 1973 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served six terms in the S ...

. The State Highway Commission concurred and approved the designation of NM 136 as the Pete V. Domenici International Highway on May 14, 1998, and appropriated $16,000 to erect signs for the new road name.

Major intersections

References

External links

* {{authority control

136 136 may refer to: *136 (number) *AD 136 *136 BC 136 may refer to: *136 (number) *AD 136 Year 136 ( CXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 136th Year of the Common Era (C ...

Transportation in Doña Ana County, New Mexico

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links