Interstate 40, a major east-west route of the Interstate Highway System, runs east-west through Albuquerque in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the direct replacement for the historic U.S. Route 66 in New Mexico. West of Albuquerque, there are some at-grade intersections, in violation of Interstate standards.

Route description

History

Planning and construction of Interstate 40 through New Mexico began shortly after the Federal Highway Act of 1956 created the Interstate highway system. First sections of I-40 through the state were completed by 1960 including a short section west of Tucumcari in Quay County, from a point just west of Santa Rosa west past Clines Corners to just east of Moriarity, along with a section on the east side of Albuquerque and another section from near Cubero to Grants, which included a new spur route connecting the interstate highway with U.S. 66 on that city's east side. Construction of I-40, generally paralleling the existing U.S. 66 in some sections and replacing the older route in others, was hobbled for a few years during this decade by the New Mexico Legislature's passage of a Anti-Bypassing Law that prohibited the construction of an interstate bypass around a city or town opposed to it. That law was repealed in 1966 following a threat of loss of federal funds and most New Mexico cities along I-40, I-25 and I-10 then worked out agreements with state and federal highway officials in determining where the bypass routes around their municipalities should be located.

By the end of the 1960s, most rural sections of I-40 were completed across the state with the largest exception being a 40-mile stretch east of Tucumcari to the Texas border at Glenrio, where traffic was diverted to the old U.S. 66. That section of highway by this time became locally and nationally known as "Slaughter Lane" due to tremendous amounts of traffic for a two-lane highway along with rough and narrow paving which led to numerous injury and fatal traffic accidents that reached epidemic numbers in 1968 and 1969. Construction on this section of I-40 was held up by a dispute at San Jon concerning a proposed routing of I-40 bypassing that city to the north by some five miles, which was resolved in November, 1969 when federal and state officials agreed to bring the bypass closer to the city along its northern limits. However, aside from a few small villages such as Montoya, Newkirk and Cuervo in the eastern portion of the state and Laguna, Budville and Cubero to the west, no major bypasses had been entirely completed in New Mexico so traffic was still diverted over the U.S. 66 routes through each of those cities.

In 1970, I-40 was entirely completed through the city of Albuquerque. Other bypasses were completed around various cities through the state including San Jon and Tucumcari (1981), Santa Rosa (1972), Moriarty (1973), Grants (1974) and Gallup (1980).

Control cities

Westbound

• Tucumcari, New Mexico
• Santa Rosa, New Mexico
• Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Gallup, New Mexico
• Flagstaff, Arizona

Eastbound

• Gallup, New Mexico
• Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Santa Rosa, New Mexico
• Tucumcari, New Mexico
• Amarillo, Texas

Exit list

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
McKinley			8	Defiance, Manuelito (NM 118/US 66)
	Gallup		16	I-40 Bus. east; NM 118 - West Gallup (US 66)
			20	US 491 north - Shiprock; NM 602 south - Munoz Boulevard, Zuni
			22	Miyamura Drive; Montoya Boulevard
			26	I-40 Bus. west - East Gallup (NM 118/US 66)
			33	NM 400 south - McGaffey (NM 118/US 66)
			36	Iyanbito (NM 118/US 66 west)	West end of US 66 overlap
			39	Refinery
			44	Coolidge
			47	Continental Divide (NM 122/US 66 east)	East end of US 66 overlap
			53	NM 371; NM 612 - Thoreau (NM 122/US 66)
			63	NM 412 - Prewitt (to NM 122/US 66)
Cibola			72	Bluewater Village (NM 606 to NM 122/US 66)
	Milan		79	I-40 Bus. east to NM 605; to NM 509 - Milan, San Mateo, Chaco Culture National Historical Park (NM 615 to NM 122/US 66)
	Grants		81	NM 53 to I-40 Bus.; to NM 122 - San Rafael, Grants ( to US 66)	Signed as exits 81A (NM 53 south) and 81B (NM 53 north to I-40 Bus.) on I-40 east
			85	I-40 Bus. west to NM 547 - Grants, Mt. Taylor (NM 122 west to US 66)
			89	Quemado (NM 117; NM 124 east; US 66)
			96	McCartys, Acoma, Sky City (NM 124/US 66)
			100	San Fidel
			102	Acomita, Acoma, Sky City
			104	Cubero, Budville (NM 124/US 66)
			108	Casa Blanca, Paraje (NM 23)
			114	NM 124 west - Laguna (US 66 west)	West end of US 66 overlap
			117	Mesita
			126	NM 6 east - Los Lunas (pre-1937 US 66 east)	East end of pre-1937 US 66 overlap
			131	To'hajiilee
Bernalillo			140	Rio Puerco
			149	Paseo del Volcan; Central Avenue (US 66 east)	East end of US 66 overlap
			153	98th Street
	Albuquerque		154	Unser Boulevard (NM 345)
			155	Coors Boulevard
			157A	Rio Grande Boulevard
			157B	12th Street	Westbound exit is via exit 158
			158	8th Street; 6th Street
			159A	4th Street; 2nd Street; University Boulevard - Downtown (pre-1937 US 66; NM 47)	Signed as exit 159D westbound, since it is east of exit 159BC
			159BC	I-25 - Santa Fe, Las Cruces
			160	Carlisle Boulevard
			161	San Mateo Boulevard	Signed as exits 161A (south) and 161B (north) on I-40 east
			162	Louisiana Boulevard
			164	Wyoming Boulevard - Kirtland AFB
			165	Eubank Boulevard
			166	Juan Tabo Boulevard
			167	Central Avenue (NM 333/US 66); Tramway Boulevard (NM 556)
			170	Carnuel (NM 333/US 66)
			175	NM 14; NM 337 - Tijeras, Cedar Crest (NM 333/US 66)
			178	Zuzax (NM 333/US 66)
			181	To NM 217 - Sedillo (NM 333/US 66)
Santa Fe	Edgewood		187	NM 344 - Edgewood ( to NM 333/US 66)
Torrance	Moriarty		194	I-40 Bus. east to US 66 - Moriarty West (to NM 333 west)
			196	NM 41 - Howard Cavasos Boulevard
			197	I-40 Bus. west; US 66 west - Moriarty East	West end of US 66 overlap; no westbound entrance
			203	(no name)
			208	Wagon Wheel
			218B	US 285 - Vaughn, Santa Fe	Signed as exit 218B on I-40 west, with exit 218A (Clines Corner) to the west
			226	(no name)
			230	NM 3 - Encino, Villanueva
			234	Flying C
			239	(no name)
Guadalupe			243	Milagro	Signed as exit 243B on I-40 west, with an unnamed exit 243A to the east
			252	(no name)
			256	US 84 north - Las Vegas (pre-1937 US 66 west; NM 219 south)	West end of pre-1937 US 66/US 84 overlap
			263	San Ignacio
			267	Colonias
	Santa Rosa		273	I-40 Bus. east - Santa Rosa (US 66 east; US 84 south)	East end of US 66/US 84 overlap
			275	Santa Rosa (I-40 Bus.; US 54; US 66; US 84)
			277	I-40 Bus. west, US 54 west - Santa Rosa; US 84 - Fort Sumner (US 66 west; to NM 156 east)	West end of US 54/US 66 overlap
			284	Frontage Road - Frontier Museum
			291	Cuervo (US 66 east)	East end of US 66 overlap
			300	NM 129 - Newkirk ( to US 66)
Quay			311	Montoya (US 66 west)	West end of US 66 overlap
			321	Palomas
	Tucumcari		329	I-40 Bus. east; US 66 east - West Route 66 Boulevard	East end of US 66 overlap
			331	Camino del Coronado
			332	NM 209 to NM 104 west - 1st Street
			333	US 54 east - Mountain Road	East end of US 54 overlap
			335	I-40 Bus. west; US 66
			339	NM 278 south (US 66; NM 286 north)
			343	(no name; US 66)
	San Jon		356	NM 469 to US 66 - San Jon
			361	Bard (to US 66)
			369	NM 93 south - Endee; NM 392 north

References