NMDOT Reviews Priorities for Snow Removal on Major Roads

TRAFFIC OFFICIALS ALREADY TALKING WEATHER: Last month, New Mexico Department of Transportation officials “met with more than 50 representatives of law enforcement and local governments from Bernalillo, Sandoval and Valencia counties to focus on upcoming winter operations,” according to Phil Gallegos, who handles information for NMDOT District 3.

And those folks “reviewed what worked/what did not work and lessons learned from last winter season.”

Gallegos says in a news release that “procedures for closures of the interstate and ramps if necessary were discussed, including staging areas for commercial vehicles. A review of services provided by the Traffic Management Center, including working hours and NM Roads enhancements, was given by NMDOT personnel.

“Road priorities for snow removal were also reviewed and broken down by patrol. (For state highway crews) interstates are the No. 1 priority throughout the district, while other routes are prioritized depending on location and traffic dependence.”

For NMDOT’s Bernalillo Patrol, the snow-removal to-do list looks like this:

♦ Priority 1: I-25 from La Bajada to Tramway.

♦ Priority 2: U.S. 550 west from I-25 to the county line; N.M. 528 from U.S. 550 to Second.

♦ Priority 3: N.M. 313 from the county line to U.S. 550; N.M. 347 (Paseo del Volcan) from U.S. 550 to Unser; N.M. 448 (Coors) from N.M. 45 (Coors Bypass) to N.M. 528 (Alameda); N.M. 165 (Placitas) from beginning of route to end of pavement.

♦ Priority 4: N.M. 22 (Santo Domingo) from I-25 to end of route; N.M. 16 (Santo Domingo) from beginning of route to end of District Three.

For NMDOT’s North Urban Patrol, snow removal happens in this order:

♦ Priority 1: I-25 from Comanche to Tramway; I-40 west from Sixth to the county line.

♦ Priority 2: N.M. 423 (Paseo del Norte) from Unser to Tramway; N.M. 556 (Tramway) from I-25 to I-40; frontage roads north and west of the Big I.

♦ Priority 3: Coors from Central to Coors Bypass.

For NMDOT’s South Urban Patrol, snow removal happens in this order:

♦ Priority 1: I-25 from Comanche to the county line; I-40 from Sixth to Carnuel.

♦ Priority 2: N.M. 47 from the county line to the railroad tracks; N.M. 500 (Rio Bravo) from I-25 to Central; Coors from N.M. 314 (Isleta) to Central; N.M. 314 (Isleta) from the Bernalillo/Valencia county line to the I-25 bridge; frontage roads south and east of the Big I.

♦ Priority 3: N.M. 147 from mile post 0 to 1; N.M. 317 from mile post 0 to 1.

For NMDOT’s Belen Patrol, the plows hit areas in this order:

♦ Priority 1: I-25 from the county line to N.M. 317.

♦ Priority 2: N.M. 314 from Belen north to the Bernalillo County line; N.M. 6 just past the Rio Puerco to Emilio Lopez; N.M. 309 from Main Street in Belen east to the Rio Grande; N.M. 304 from the beginning of the route to U.S. 60; N.M. 47 from the beginning of the route to Tribal Road 10.

And for NMDOT’s Tijeras Patrol the cleanup goes in this order:

♦ Priority 1: I-40 from Carnuel to the county line; N.M. 333 from Clovis Lane to N.M. 217.

♦ Priority 2: N.M. 14 from N.M. 333 to the Santa Fe County line; N.M. 337 from the Bernalillo/Torrance county line to N.M. 333.

♦ Priority 3: N.M. 217 from I-40 10 miles south to Camino Yrrisari; N.M. 536 from N.M. 14 to Sandia Crest/end of route.

TELL THE EXPERTS WHAT COMMUTER INFO YOU WANT: There is still time to click on to ABQjournal.com and check out the survey that ran with the Oct. 22 Road Warrior column. (The survey is here). You can rank what information will make your commute easier — from wrecks to delays on river crossings — as well as how you want to get that information, whether it’s on the electronic message boards, your smart phone, on nmroads.com or on the 511 roads phone line.

You can also email your input to road@abqjournal.com. The information will be shared at an upcoming conference with the folks who put out the information and respond to traffic backups.

Assistant editorial page editor D’Val Westphal tackles commuter issues for the Metro area on Mondays and West Siders and Rio Ranchoans on Thursdays. Reach her at 823-3858; road@abqjournal.com; P.O. Drawer J, Albuquerque, NM 87103; or go to ABQjournal.com/traffic to read previous columns and join in the conversation.
— This article appeared on page A6 of the Albuquerque Journal