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Thursday, May 01, 2008

Westbound I-40 Work To Begin

By Lee Ross /
Mountain View Telegraph
      Orange barrel season is here, and although traffic backups may concern commuters, at least a few local business owners are not all that worried.
       For 75 calendar days, from May 5 to July 19, the number of lanes on westbound Interstate 40 will be cut in half between the Zuzax and Sedillo Hill exits for freeway reconstruction.
       “That is going to be the biggest impact to traffic,” said Jonathon Wasson, the project manager for the New Mexico Department of Transportation.
       However, owners and mangers of GCC Rio Grande Portland Cement in Tijeras, Lisa's Truck Stop in Moriarty and Huston Rammed Earth, a local construction company, all said the construction wouldn't affect their businesses or mentioned increases in gasoline prices as a bigger concern than construction.
       Allen Gregory, the assistant manager of Fleetwing Courier Service, did say congestion may hurt his fleet's fuel efficiency.
       “My whole business revolves around the profit margin of the fuel,” Gregory said. “Being stuck in that stuff never helps.”
       Gregory's business consists of a van, a pickup and a 16-foot trailer, and three employees who deliver packages, haul hay or even take loads of trash to the dump.
       “We're not ready to go tackle the world, but we will continue to expand as business picks up,” Gregory said.
       His business relies heavily on the freeway to operate and will certainly be impacted, but he said road improvements have to happen.
       “Nobody likes construction, but it's all part of progress,” he said. “Fifteen years ago it wouldn't have made that big a difference.”
       Gregory noted that people used to be able to use Old Route 66 as an alternate route without much problem.
       “Now 66 is just not a good backup (road), but that's all we got,” he said.
       The I-40 reconstruction in the area has gone on for about five years, according to Phillip Gallegos, the public relations specialist for DOT District 3. Over that time, DOT has reconstructed the freeway from the Santa Fe-Bernalillo county line to Sedillo and from the Carnuel area to Tijeras. The final phase of the project, from Zuzax to Tijeras, is slated for 2009.
       The current reconstruction is about a three-mile stretch of I-40 that will include tearing the freeway out and rebuilding it as well as widening two bridges the roadway goes over. Wasson said much of the old roadbed will be crushed and reused in the new road. The reconstruction is part of a $19.7 million, three-phase GRIP project.
       In the first phase, eastbound I-40 will be rebuilt. It's something that hasn't happened on this stretch of road in either direction for about 40 years, according to Wasson.
       He also said there haven't been any complaints or questions to the DOT yet, but he said he expects to get a few calls after May 5. Weekday traffic is 56,600 vehicles per day, according to an estimate by the Mid-Region Council of Governments.
       To help mitigate traffic concerns, DOT is urging people to use Park and Ride or use Old Route 66. There also may be additional bus service for employees of Kirtland Air Force Base, those who work for the Department of Energy in Albuquerque and Sandia National Laboratories.
       “This is one way for us to get (traffic) down below those peak volumes,” he said, adding that the three government agencies have “quite a healthy contingency of folks that live in the East Mountains.”
       If a bus route is created, Gallegos said he will have more details about the schedule soon.
       Lydia Koch, a Sandia National Laboratories employee, has been a driving force in the bus effort and is working to find people interested in having the bus route available. At a recent public meeting, Koch also brought up a concern about the impact to emergency services during construction. That issue is also getting some attention.
       “We want to prepare for (emergencies) upfront,” Wasson said. “Contingencies in the case of accidents … an emergency such as a fire.”
       Wasson said he is working with his crew and Mountain States Constructors, the company doing the work, to develop emergency routes, evacuation plans and places for ambulances to access an accident, should one occur.
       He has also been in contact with Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department and attempts have been made to contact other emergency service providers, such as Bernalillo County Fire Department as well as fire departments in the Edgewood and Moriarty areas.
       Meetings to discuss emergency planning or other concerns are held each Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the project's staging area, the Lafarge site south of Old Route 66, just west of the Sedillo exit. The public is welcome to attend and ask questions, Wasson said.
       Most of the impact of the project to businesses and commuters will likely ease after July 19, when two lanes in both directions are restored for the remainder of the project, according to Wasson.
       Phase 2 of the project is scheduled for July 20 to Oct. 5, when reconstruction on the westbound lanes will begin.
       From Oct. 6 to Nov. 16, the third phase of the project, widening the on-ramps and offramps at the Sedillo exit, will be done.
       After that, some minor work, such as lane striping and a friction course, will be completed. That work might bring the project into early 2009.
       The Sedillo and Zuzax exits might be closed periodically during the project, but Wasson said one of the two will be open at all times.
   

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