Road Warrior: 'Which rush hour stretch makes you rethink your whole life?'

Happy Monday.

Just a reminder: Comanche Road at Interstate 25 will be closed from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. through April 7 so crews can perform utility work.

Traffic will be detoured via Candelaria and Montgomery. Drivers should expect delays, plan extra travel time and follow posted detour signs, according to I-25 Improved.

‘RETHINK YOUR WHOLE LIFE’: A Potamkin Hyundai study asked 3,000 people, “Which rush hour stretch makes you rethink your whole life?”

Three New Mexico roads made the list.

Interstate 40 from Rio Grande to Coors: “Each morning, eastbound I-40 clogs up approaching the river, and each evening the westbound side does the same leaving the city,” the study states. “Stuck here, many residents think hard about their choices. By the time you reach Coors (Boulevard) and things loosen, you’ve possibly resolved to talk to your boss about 7 a.m. start times, or considered selling the house and renting Downtown.”

The Big I: “When traffic backs up on those flyover ramps, drivers get a rare New Mexico experience: honest-to-goodness gridlock,” according to the study. “You might find yourself gazing at the Sandia Mountains in the distance, wishing you were up there instead of stuck here.”

New Mexico Highway 528: “People who moved to Rio Rancho for affordable homes find themselves in a daily philosophical debate on 528: cheaper house vs. longer drive — was it worth it?” the study asked.

TRAFFIC FATALITIES: There were 30 traffic fatalities across New Mexico in February, according to data from the University of New Mexico and NMDOT. There were 29 fatalities in January.

The 30 fatalities marks about a 19% drop from February 2024, according to the data.

Of the 30, nine (or 30%) happened in Bernalillo County. The second highest amount was five in McKinley County, according to UNM and NMDOT.

DIPS: The northside of Irving by Eagle Ranch Road has dips so deep that drivers have to slow down so their vehicles don’t get damaged, reader Lenny Lucero said.

If the dips were resurfaced, traffic would move through the intersection more smoothly, he said.

REPAVING REQUEST: Reader Richard Feferman said the worst road conditions in the city are on the Interstate 25 on- and off-ramps at Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue.

“When will these sections be repaved?” he asked.

There is no project planned for this area, but it will be considered “if we have available funds,” NMDOT spokesperson Kim Gallegos said.

THE ‘CHIEF’ DIES: Thomas H. MacDonald, also known as the “Chief,” died on April 7, 1957.

MacDonald headed the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads from 1919 to 1953.

“The country had scarcely a quarter million miles of public roads when Chief MacDonald took office — and very little of that mileage was hard-surfaced. Few bridges were adequate to carry heavy truck traffic,” according to the Federal Highway Administration.

For 34 years, MacDonald directed national road policy, supervising the creation of 3.5 million highway miles, promoting road building for economic stability and national security.

After World War II, he proposed a program for interstate highways, and his idea became the model for the interstate system, according to the National Highway Institute.

“By the time he left office, he (had) ushered the nation to the brink of the Interstate era,” the FHA states.