Life, food, events, and community in Albuquerque, NM
>>>Better Freeways...Safer Freeways>>>
Albuquerque is the one major city where I-40 & I-25 intersect. We need proper signage, lighting, and information. This would ease the flow of traffic and allow more trucks to get in and out of ALB. I drove through Los Angeles, San Diego, and Oceanside, on I-5 and it was a breeze. I could see which exit i needed. Of course the traffic out there is terrible, but, it would be worse if it had freeways like Albuquerque.
What do you think?
Would it work?
Is it safe?
Is it worth it?
Feedback people!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bluegoo on -
How many signs? There are signs in all 4 ways near there. Maybe you mean more signs 2 to 3 miles down the road from I-25/I-40 ?
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Permalink Reply by Ron Da Bomb on -
The interchange is a million times better than it was 10-15 years ago before the reconstruction.
Nice photos, by the way. I like the big green down arrow. Get the down-arrow and straight to the pit of Hades with you...
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Permalink Reply by misterhinkydink on -
What makes you think trucks have a problem?
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Permalink Reply by Ron on -
My favorite pet peeve about this town deserves a short rant. From what I have observed over many years of driving in this town is that no amount of signage, lighting, additional lanes, etc. will solve the problem. Factoring in the improvements in the highway after the Big-I reconstruction and the increased population of Albq. over time, I don't see that much of an improvement in traffic flow. Traffic on the freeway in the interchange area bottles up in roughly the same major congestion zones (on-ramps/off-ramps for the Big-I, Commanche, Lomas, et al) not because people don't know where to go but because of poor driving. Entering freeway traffic too slow, no proper merging (everyone wants in the left lane upon entering), not maintaining highway speed while in through lanes, waiting until at the desired exit to move right to exit traffic, speeding, driving too slow, and a whole littany of idiodic driving behaviours are the real problem. Top this off with the inexperienced, impared, and incapable drivers on the road and that's what we're dealing with. Drivers training, vehicle maintanence, and testing requirements around here are way too lax. Public education and more stringent licensing requirements are the actual solutions. I've alway thought that PSA's on tv may be helpfulbut good luck restricting licenses for those who are mentally or physically unable to meet good driving standards (we need convenient, expanded public transportation for these good people). Putting up more signs and flashing lights will only confuse people more. Heck, they can come to a crawl on an empty freeway on a clear day just because there's a curve in the road (Look Out!). The same points apply to other areas of the freeway, and most other roads in town. The same congestion situation is cropping up on I-25 at Paseo. There is a plan to redo that intersection too, but I predict that like with the Big-I and Coors/I-40 reconstructions, there will be more lanes but the same traffic problems. If those at the front of the line of traffic will move, those behind them can too. Can't we all just drive along?
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Permalink Reply by Pat OConnell on -
From what I've seen, the worst traffic jam causer in Abq during rush hour is the ramp from westbound I-40 to northbound I-25 in the evenings. I commuted on that stretch every day for several years, and the right lane needs to be extended at least past Comanche, and maybe past Montgomery.
On the pics:
California call boxes are relics from the days before everyone had cell phones. I've seen the highway advisory signs with flashing lights on I 40 in eastern NM, but they're intended to handle road closures due to bad weather.
The metering lights on freeways aren't all that effective, at least in Minneapolis where I live right at the moment. Cheap bus fares and parking lots for major bus stations seem to be more effective at cutting down traffic, at least to the Downtown area. The city also has a light rail train between Bloomington MN (the end terminal is at the Mall of America) and downtown. It's like the Roadrunner but electric and with smaller, more frequent trains.
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Permalink Reply by Barelas Babe on -
Angelo, I know that stretch of I-5 very well...used to cruise it all the time in my vintage '68 MGB convertible. Sigh. Somehow driving the mom car just isn't the same thing.
I'm curious and a little bit unclear about your suggestions. I hope you don't mind my questions.
1. What specifically about the signage on I-5 do you think is better and should be added to our 2 highway interchange?
2. What other information would you like to see?
3. On what ramps would you put metering lights? (Would this be cost-effective?)
I'm certainly no expert, but I'm always a bit nonplussed whenever I see discussions like this about traffic in Albuquerque. After living in the top 3 places rated for the worst traffic in the country, I always think we've got it pretty good here. (Maybe I'm driving the wrong roads at the wrong times, but I can count on one hand the amount of times I've experienced horrendous traffic here outside of balloon fiesta snarls...) Then again, perspective is everything, isn't it?
Where is D'Val Westphal when we need her?
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Permalink Reply by Erika Ruth on -
Umm yeah. Just spent the last 7 years in SoCal. Can't tell you the number of times people Missed the 405 off the 5 heading south. Then, it is a pain to get through the city. Or, missing the 91 from the 5, then trying to take the 605 as a turn around. Um. ABQ is so so so so so so so so (enough emphasis?) easier than SoCal in terms of traffic. LA is horrendous. San Diego is even worse (Yeah, the North of LaJolla super freeway. Dood. It is almost the only route. (It gets so jammed, it is ridiculous). Only in the past 2-3 years have they fixed the waiving of the freeway. We used to almost make air as we entered LaJolla.
Basically, we only have 1 major interchange. If you can't prep for it and figure it out, you have bigger problems (as some of the other posters mentioned).
Erika
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Permalink Reply by Hairy McLairy on -
I agree with BB, I was a little confused by this post. Having lived in Los Angeles for several years and driven the 5, 405,10, 101 and good grief the narrowiest Pasadena freeway. I love the traffic flow here in Albuquerque.
Didnt they have an article the other day about a planned bypass through the back of the Westside off the 40 West coming out at the 550 for trucks to be able to bypass the city traffic, an excellent concept and I think it would address some of Angelos concerns?
I do remember a wonderful piece of freeway down by Oceanside, where it pushed out to 9 lanes in each direction, with overpass carpool lanes, surreal in its engineering grandeur.
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Permalink Reply by misterhinkydink on
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This one says "Prepare to not let someone get in front of you"
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Permalink Reply by Doug R on -
AMEN to this post. I have to admit, California is not perfect, but they do have freeway signage!
Now I don't know if it's a cultural thing at the NM DOT. We certainly can't expect them to care about the motorists (even though they are responsible for making the streets safe.........a clash of priorities always seen with any government agency) but NM's signs are lacking. Yes, they're better than when I lived in town 30 years ago but we were also driving gas guzzlers and polluting freely (ha ha).
We need signs that will be visible from the electric cars we'll be driving in the future. Looking at some of those vehicles, the signs better be big and high. I won't be able to see them over the pickup truck in front of me. (ha ha)
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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Brittain on -
I think signage on the ABQ freeways is generally good. I think NM could do a little better job on the approaches to the freeways with bigger signs an preferably overhead. It would also be nice if NM would install more reflectors in the pavement. Lane stripping is good but difficult to see during wet weather. Other states that experience snowfall use them and there are types that are buried further in the pavement to prevent damage when a snow plow comes through removing snow. I live in California but I'm currently on the east coast for work. I've noticed Maryland does a very good job at marking their roads and perhaps NM could look at that state as an example.
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Permalink Reply by Phil_0 on -
Ever tried to follow road signs in Texas? New Mexico could be a lot worse...
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