Interstate 40 (New Mexico)
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Interstate 40 (I-40), a major east–west route of the
Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...
, runs east–west through
Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...
in the US state of
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
. It is the direct replacement for the historic U.S. Highway 66 (US 66).


Route description


Arizona to Albuquerque

As I-40 enters New Mexico in a northeasterly direction, it begins following the basin of the intermittent
Puerco River The Puerco River or Rio Puerco is a tributary of the Little Colorado River in northwestern New Mexico and northeastern Arizona. It flows through arid terrain, including the Painted Desert. Name The Puerco River is sometimes called Rio Puerco ...
( Rio Puerco of the West, as opposed to the Rio Puerco of the East that it crosses near Albuquerque), roughly tracing the southern edge of the contiguous part of the
Navajo Reservation The Navajo Nation (), also known as Navajoland, is an Indian reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in ...
in the state. The freeway enters Gallup later, paralleling the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway's southern transcontinental mainline. Leaving Gallup, the now more easterly I-40 passes to the north of
Fort Wingate Fort Wingate was a military installation near Gallup, New Mexico, United States. There were two other locations in New Mexico called Fort Wingate: Seboyeta, New Mexico, Seboyeta (1849–1862) and San Rafael, New Mexico, San Rafael (1862–1868 ...
and part of the fragmented
Cibola National Forest The Cibola National Forest (pronounced SEE-bo-lah) is a 1,633,783 acre (6,611.7 km2) United States National Forest in New Mexico, US. The name Cibola is thought to be the original Zuni Indian name for their pueblos or tribal lands. The name wa ...
before crossing the North American continental divide via Campbell Pass at an elevation of , with the stratovolcano Mount Taylor towering to the east. The highway traverses more of the Navajo Reservation and the Cibola Forest before turning southeast and crossing a malpaís. After serving interchanges near
Grants Grant or Grants may refer to: People * Grant (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Grant (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters ** Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), the 18th president of the U ...
, the freeway, coinciding with the northern boundary of El Malpais National Monument, crosses another malpaís, turns east, and enters the Acoma Indian Reservation, home of the
Acoma Pueblo Acoma Pueblo ( , ) is a Native American pueblo approximately west of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. Four communities make up the village of Acoma Pueblo: Sky City (Old Acoma), Acomita, Anzac, and McCartys. These communities ...
. The route leaves the Acoma Indian Reservation with Mt. Taylor to the north and enters the
Laguna Pueblo The Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico ( Western Keres: Kawaika ʰɑwɑjkʰɑ is a federally recognized tribe of Native American Pueblo people in west-central New Mexico, near the city of Albuquerque, in the United States. Part of the Laguna ...
. Near the interchange with State Road 6 (NM 6), the railway line that accompanies much of the route from the Arizona border diverts to the south while the freeway turns east by northeast toward
Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...
. The route departs the Laguna Pueblo, briefly transits the
Tohajiilee Indian Reservation The To'Hajiilee Navajo Chapter (, ), also spelled To'hajiilee, formerly known as the Cañoncito Band of Navajo Indians is a non-contiguous section of the Navajo Nation lying in parts of western Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernalillo, eastern ...
(a chapter of the
Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation (), also known as Navajoland, is an Indian reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in ...
), crosses the
Rio Puerco The Rio Puerco is a tributary of the Rio Grande in the U.S. state of New Mexico. From its source on the west side of the Nacimiento Mountains, it flows about ,Calculated in Google Earth generally south to join the Rio Grande about south of ...
, and begins a steep climb to the top of a
mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge, or hill, bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and standing distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks, such as shales, capped by a ...
marked by several small cinder cones overlooking the
Rio Grande rift The Rio Grande rift is a north-trending continental rift zone. It separates the Colorado Plateau in the west from the interior of the North American craton on the east. The rift extends from central Colorado in the north to the state of Chihuah ...
and Albuquerque. From Laguna to the Route 66 Casino, I-40 has at-grade intersections with a number of ranch access roads in violation of
Interstate Highway standards Standards for Interstate Highways in the United States are defined by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in the publication ''A Policy on Design Standards: Interstate System''. For a certain highway t ...
. These intersections are a vestige that remain from the conversion of US 66 to I-40 during the latter part of the 20th century.


Albuquerque Metro Area

I-40 diverges from the former US 66 alignment ( Central Avenue) at an interchange with Atrisco Vista Boulevard on the
West Mesa 300px, View of downtown Albuquerque and the Manzano Mountains from the West Mesa The West Mesa is an elevated landmass lying west of the Rio Grande in the Albuquerque area, stretching from the Pajarito Mesa in the South Valley northward to Be ...
that overlooks Albuquerque. I-40 descends Nine Mile Hill as it enters the city of Albuquerque and intersects 98th Street, NM 345 (Unser Boulevard), and NM 45 (Coors Boulevard) before crossing the
Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...
. The freeway then skirts the northern edge of
Downtown Albuquerque Downtown Albuquerque is the central business district of Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. It is where a significant number of the city's highrise buildings are located, and is the center of government and business for the Greater Alb ...
before intersecting
I-25 Interstate 25 (I-25), also known as the Pan-American Freeway, is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 st ...
at a five-level stack interchange (
Big I The Big I is a freeway interchange where Interstate 25 and Interstate 40 intersect northeast of downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. Description The Big I is a complex stack interchange located in central Albuquerque, New Mexico. Th ...
). East of I-25, I-40 continues east, then turns southeast, passing through Uptown before intersecting Old US 66 (now signed as NM 333/Central Avenue) at NM 556 (Tramway Boulevard) as it leaves Albuquerque and enters
Tijeras Canyon Tijeras Canyon (sometimes also referred to as Tijeras Pass) is a prominent canyon in the central part of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It separates the Sandia Mountains subrange to the north from the Manzano Mountains subrange (specifically the l ...
. This section of I-40 is also referred to as the Coronado Freeway.


Albuquerque to Texas

East of Albuquerque, I-40 crosses the Sandia–Manzano Mountains by traversing Tijeras Pass, reaching its highest point of at Sedillo Ridge. Continuing east, I-40 descends out of the mountains and into the Estancia Valley while passing through the town of Edgewood (exit 187). The highway continues east across the Estancia Valley, passing through Moriarty (exits 194, 196, and 197). Before reaching Clines Corners, I-40 ascends into the Pedernal Hills, a region of hills and low-level ridgelines averaging around in elevation. East of Clines Corners (exit 218), I-40 gradually descends from the Pedrenal Hills region and into the High Plains of eastern New Mexico. At Santa Rosa (exits 273, 275, and 277), I-40 crosses the
Pecos River The Pecos River ( ; ) originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas, emptying into the Rio Grande. Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexico, at an elev ...
and then continues east-northeastward cosigned with US 54 to Tucumcari. At Tucumcari, I-40 diverges from US 54 and turns eastward and skirts the northern edge of San Jon before reaching the
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
state line at Glenrio.


History

Planning and construction of I-40 through New Mexico began shortly after the Federal Highway Act of 1956 created the Interstate Highway System. First sections of I-40 through the state were completed by 1960, including a short section west of Tucumcari in Quay County, from a point just west of Santa Rosa west past Clines Corners to just east of Moriarty, along with a section on the eastside of Albuquerque and another section from near Cubero to Grants, which included a new spur route connecting the Interstate Highway with US 66 on that city's eastside. Construction of I-40, generally paralleling the existing US 66 in some sections and replacing the older route in others, was hobbled for a few years during this decade by the New Mexico Legislature's passage of an Anti-Bypassing Law that prohibited the construction of an Interstate bypass around a city or town opposed to it. That law was repealed in 1966 following a threat of loss of federal funds and most New Mexico cities along I-40, I-25, and I-10 then worked out agreements with state and federal highway officials in determining where the bypass routes around their municipalities should be located. By the end of the 1960s, most rural sections of I-40 were completed across the state with the largest exception being a stretch east of Tucumcari to the Texas border at Glenrio, where traffic was diverted to the old US 66. That section of highway, by this time, became locally and nationally known as "Slaughter Lane" due to tremendous amounts of traffic for a two-lane highway along with rough and narrow paving which led to numerous injury and fatal traffic accidents that reached epidemic numbers in 1968 and 1969. Construction on this section of I-40 was held up by a dispute at San Jon concerning a proposed routing of I-40 bypassing that city to the north by some , which was resolved in November 1969 when federal and state officials agreed to bring the bypass closer to the city along its northern limits. However, aside from a few small villages, such as Montoya, Newkirk, and Cuervo in the eastern portion of the state and Laguna, Budville, and Cubero to the west, no major bypasses had been entirely completed in New Mexico, so traffic was still diverted over the US 66 routes through each of those cities. In 1970, I-40 was entirely completed through the city of Albuquerque. Other bypasses were completed around various cities through the state, including San Jon (1976) and Tucumcari (1981), Santa Rosa (1972), Moriarty (1973), Grants (1974), and Gallup (1980).


Exit list


See also

* Albuquerque Northwest Loop


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Interstate 40 In New Mexico New Mexico 40 Transportation in McKinley County, New Mexico Transportation in Cibola County, New Mexico Transportation in Bernalillo County, New Mexico Transportation in Santa Fe County, New Mexico Transportation in Torrance County, New Mexico Transportation in Guadalupe County, New Mexico Transportation in Quay County, New Mexico