I-40 and I-25 traffic impacted due to severe winter weather

Jonathan Fjeld | Feliz Romero | KOB

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Heavy truck congestion on I-40 has traffic at a stand still near Moriarty and Santa Rosa Friday.

A New Mexico Department of Transportation spokesperson says trucks who parked on the side of the road, and at truck stops overnight began to move Friday. Some drivers say they waited over two hours from Santa Rosa to Moriarty.

Officials say icy roads are also contributing to slow moving traffic.

On Thursday, Interstate 25 and Interstate 40 were closed due to a winter storm.

I-40 was shut down at Clines Corners, and the westbound lanes are closed at Tucumcari, due to the severe winter weather. As a result of the closure, southbound U.S. Highway 285 was also closed at mile marker 290, one mile south of I-25, near Santa Fe. Northbound U.S. 285 traffic was diverted to southbound I-25 due to a closure on that road.

Northbound I-25 was shut down from mile marker 339, just north of Las Vegas, to mile marker 460 through Raton Pass. Southbound I-25 was also shut down at mile marker 460.

According to the New Mexico Department of Transportation, law enforcement shut down the road due to the weather causing unsafe traveling conditions.

“Like I said, we borrowed equipment from other districts to help out. Mainly District 3 in Albuquerque, but they are going to be there and all of the districts go to 12-hour shifts,” said NMDOT Public Information Officer James Murray.

NMDOT advises that other roads may be snow packed and icy and that crews may be salting and sanding. They also advise you to drive with caution and stay behind snowplows at least 50 feet.

In northeastern New Mexico, U.S. Highway 56 was shut down from Springer to the Texas state line – a 94-mile stretch. U.S. 64 was also shut down from mile marker 350, one mile east of Raton, to mile marker 430 in Clayton.

The issues in these areas are snow packed and icy roads and zero visibility due to blizzard conditions. Travel is discouraged.

Here is what I-25 at Springer and U.S. 64 at Capulin looked like just after 10 a.m. Thursday:

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