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LAS CRUCES - Admittedly, it's still a bit bumpy down the "home stretch" of a $36 million project to widen Interstate 10 from four lanes to six.
That stretch includes the last five miles of improvements that come right to Las Cruces' southern city limits. The road is uneven and orange barrels detour traffic from one lane to another.
"It's better than it was a few months ago, but it just seems so slow now," said Las Crucen Vicki Qui-ones, who works in El Paso and commutes to work every weekday. "The project seems like it's dragging. I'm like a lot of people who want to be done with all of this."
There's good news for Qui-ones and others who have to use I-10 on regular basis. The project is about 90 percent completed.
About 32,000 vehicles travel I-10 every day between Las Cruces and El Paso, according to traffic estimates.
There's even better news - or at least something encouraging: the final surfacing of I-10 could begin in about a month, and a new Open Graded Friction Course should make the ride a lot smoother by sometime in early May.
"The uneven surface is related to the pending surface work that will be complete in late April, which is subject to change due to weather," said Bridget Spedalieri, New Mexico Department of Transportation
(NMDOT) spokeswoman. "This project is still not complete; therefore, motorists need to play close
Some traffic congestion continues on I-10 near its junction with I-25. Spedalieri said the traffic backup is related to peak hours of traffic as motorists filter on and off the I-25 interchange.
"It's still pretty much a mess early in the morning and late in the afternoon," said Ray Porter, an independent commercial truck driver. "I, for one, will be glad when the road has been paved and everybody can get back to regular traffic flows."
Porter added a wider I-10 should improve traffic flow for all motorists, but the wait for that is hard for some drivers to tolerate.
"There's still some real crazies who want to drive through there like a bat out of hell," Porter said. "It's those kooks that make it dangerous for everybody else. Those are the one who try to jump lanes really quick, don't take into account the road and weather conditions, or either don't plan or don't care about the work that's ahead of them."
While some I-10 motorists may feel the urge to put the pedal to the metal, they should probably think again and lay off the gas. Work to replace two bridges on I-10, at Avenida de Mesilla and Motel Boulevard, could begin by the end of the year, meaning that the construction is going to shift about five miles west of where the work is now happening.
Spedalieri said the bridges were built in the early 1970s, and through the years have developed fractures in some steel beams.
"Over the years the department has performed repair work to secure the safety of the motorists," Spedalieri said. "However, with funding made available the department has determined that these bridges must be replaced due to traffic volumes and deterioration of the bridges."
The average annual daily traffic for both bridges is 26,841 vehicles, according to NMDOT statistics. Also, it is estimated that there are 375 vehicles exiting ramps on those bridges on an hourly basis, and the number increases to more than 400 vehicles an hour during peak driving hours.
Because of the high traffic volumes and the old design of the bridges, vehicles utilizing on and off ramps on the bridges are not provided with the proper acceleration length onto I-10. While traffic on I-10 is traveling at 65 mph, or more, large commercial trucks - typically coming from one of two nearby truck stops - are entering the Interstate from those ramps at speeds of 25 mph to 35 mph.
"This is a safety issues as Las Cruces has two major truck stops at Motel Boulevard, in conjunction to the RV locations and businesses at Avenida de Mesilla," Spedalieri said.
For more information about Thursday's meeting, call A.J. Romero, NMDOT project development engineer, at (575) 525-7341, or by e-mail at arthur.romero@state.nm.us.
Steve Ramirez can be reached at (575) 541-5452
