ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – Construction on I-40 is causing huge delays for Holiday travelers.
Helicopter scoured I-40 early Sunday am, and it revealed that the back-up began in the westbound lane about east of Laguna.
Traffic from Laguna to the Route 66 Casino stretched 30 miles on Nov. 20 – semis were not moving, some people even got out of their automobiles and waited.
Asked by Malia Adache, “We both remarked they are going to be sitting there for hours and hours, I’ve just never seen something like that on this road not that huge.”.
If the Department of Transportation agreed to open all lanes of traffic for Thanksgiving, KOB 4 contacted them. They said on Sunday that barriers would remain in place due to the fast nature of the project. A portion of the 5.5-mile construction project will be suspended beginning Wednesday, November 24 and lasting until Sunday, November 28. This was announced by NMDOT officials on Monday.
“We understand how frustrating it is for drivers to be stuck in traffic,” said Transportation Secretary Mike Sandoval. “We are accelerating the project in order to complete it sooner, so that the traveling public would have less inconvenience.” Rather of taking three months, it should just take a month. Due to the precise location of the work, this was a perfect storm for massive backups. Hilly terrain is not ideal for transporting large amounts of heavy goods. As a result, we’ve planned to open all lanes of traffic on Thanksgiving Day to ensure that everyone can safely reach their destinations. “Thank you so much for your understanding and cooperation.
Source: kob.com
