Construction begins on I-25 near Montgomery and Comanche
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A major I-25 reconstruction project in northeast Albuquerque is officially underway, and it’s a big one.
Crews are planning to rebuild both the Montgomery and Comanche interchanges, while also expanding I-25 throughout the area. Construction will begin at 8 p.m. every night and will run until 6 a.m..
New Mexico Department of Transportation reps say this is the second-largest project they’ve tackled since rebuilding the Big-I.
The main reason of the project is to increase capacity for the more than 100,000 drivers that use this interchange, and it’s going to look a lot different when the work is done.
For starters, the loop taking drivers from Montgomery down to I-25 is going away forever. Starting in August, the on-ramp will be permanently closed. So this is your last chance to use it if you’re feeling nostalgic.
All drivers on westbound Montgomery will have to make a left turn at the light to get on I-25.
The project will add extra lanes on both the on and off ramps, as well as so-called Texas U-turns, allowing drivers to swing around to the other side of the highway without waiting at a light.
“That loop wasn’t accommodating the traffic that was leaving I-25, which was creating congestion in all the way north of here by about three miles. And so I believe it was a capacity issue that we decided, ‘Hey, we got to do something else here to accommodate traffic leaving on the southbound lanes,'” said Ricky Serna, a NMDOT secretary.
Crews officially broke ground on what’s expected to be a three-year project.
On top of the new interchanges, NMDOT is also planning to add an extra southbound lane on I-25 to widen the Frontage roads, and install new bike lanes on Montgomery and Comanche.
Officials say there will be lane closures and other disruptions throughout this project, but they are doing everything they can to make sure it’s not a traffic nightmare.
“We’re going to be using lane shifting on I-25. So we’re gonna be working both during the day and at night. And we are not going to have any work during the New Mexicans commuting hours, both in the morning and late afternoon. So that’s maximizing the value in this improvement, but we’re not going to be inconveniencing people more than we have to,” said state Rep. Day Hochman-Vigil.
NMDOT reps know the construction will be a headache for some, but they’re asking drivers to think about the big picture.
“What we see here is 100,000 cars a day. What we’re going to expect in 2040, is going to be even greater than that. And so working with federal highway is a process that says, ‘Here’s our pain point today, and here’s how bad it’s going to be in 20 years if we don’t do something sooner rather than later.’ And so we’re fixing today’s problems and helping build capacity that’s going to withstand the growth we anticipate on I-25,” said Serna.
MORE: