East Mountain residents brace for I-40 work

SOME BIG CHANGES ARE COMING FOR EAST MOUNTAIN DRIVERS. IN A MONTH ANOTHER MAJOR I-40 CONSTRUCT...  More »

SOME BIG CHANGES ARE COMING FOR EAST MOUNTAIN DRIVERS. IN A MONTH ANOTHER MAJOR I-40 CONSTRUCTION PROJECT GETS UNDERWAY. TONIGHT THE D-O-T BRIEFED DRIVERS ON WHAT KINDS OF SLOWDOWNS THEY CAN EXPECT. JOE VIGIL IS LIVE AT SEDILLO HILL WITH ALL THE DETAILS. EAST AND WESTBOUND LANES FROM SEDILLO HILL TO ZUZAX WILL BE RIPPED UP AND REDONE. THAT WILL INCLUDE LANE AND RAMP CLOSURES. MARK MAY 5TH DOWN ON YOUR CALENDAR. AGAIN MAY 5TH. THAT'S WHEN I-40 WORK IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN ON THE FOUR AND A HALF MILE STRETCH FROM SEDILLO HILL TO ZUZAX. IT WASN'T STANDING ROOM ONLY TONIGHT AT A PUBLIC DOT MEETING IN TEJERAS. BUT PEOPLE HAD QUESTIONS THAT AFFECT THOUSANDS WHO LIVE OUT HERE. 'My number one concern really is fire danger and if we have to evacuate and we have stuff going on and if exit ramps would be closed.' PROJECT LEADERS SAY IF THERE IS A FIRE THEY'LL TRY TO QUICKLY OPEN EVERYTHING THAT'S CLOSED. PEOPLE ARE ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT TRAFFIC BACKING UP ON FRONTAGE ROADS--INCLUDING ROUTE 66. FOR THE FIRST 75 DAYS OF THE PROJECT WESTBOUND I-40 WILL BE DOWN TO JUST ONE LANE. THE DOT IS HOPING RESIDENTS CAN HELP LIMIT THE AMOUNT OF TRAFFIC...BY CARPOOLING AND USING THE PARK AND RIDE INTO ALBUQUERQUE. THERE ARE STATIONS IN MORIARTY, EDGEWOOD AND AT SEDILLO HILL. 'Hopefully that will take some of the stress and strain off the system.' THE DOT SAYS THIS STRETCH OF INTERSTATE WAS BUILT IN THE 1960'S AND NEEDS UPDATING...WAITING WOULD ADD TO THE NEARLY 20 MILLION DOLLAR COST. SAFETY UPGRADES INCLUDE BETTER MERGING LANES, A TRUCK CLIMBING LANE HEADING UP SEDILLO HILL SO TRAFFIC DOESN'T GET AS BACKED UP, RAMP IMPROVEMENTS AND BARRIER WALLS. WE ARE TOLD THERE WILL BE NO COMPLETE CLOSERS OF I-40. WORK IS EXPECTED TO BE DONE IN NOVEMBER. AFTER THAT THERE'S ONE MORE PROJECT FROM ZUZAX TO TIJERAS - BUT IT'S NOT SCHEDULED YET. IT WILL WRAP UP ALL THE MAJOR WORK THROUGH THE EAST MOUNTAINS. MANY PEOPLE  « Less