Migraine for Motorists
Reconstruction of Muñoz overpass may be a headache for some drivers

By Zsombor Peter
Staff Writer

GALLUP — The whole point of reconstructing the Muñoz overpass is to make life easier for the city's commuters and visitors.

But starting Feb. 15 when construction crews are expected to begin diverting traffic in order to begin work it's going to get harder, and a good deal more inconvenient. And it's likely to stay that way until September of 2007, when the New Mexico Department of Transportation expects the contractor it hired for the nearly $19.9 million project A.S. Horner Inc. of Albuquerque to wrap up.

Designed and funded by the Transportation Department, the plans call for a completely redesigned interchange system with I-40 on the north end of the overpass and with Aztec Avenue on the south end. While the overpass spanning the interstate once reborn will have extra turning lanes to give through traffic an easier pass, the bridge over the railway tracks will remain a four-lane stretch.

State crews, said Transportation Department project manager Morris Williams, will actually begin setting up traffic control signs in preparation for actual construction on the 13th. They won't start diverting traffic until a few days later.

"We have to get all of those signs set before we can actually change traffic," he said.

When work finally begins, it will signal the beginning of the end of a process that began many years ago, when city officials first began lobbying the state to overhaul its congested and aging overpass.

"Things are looking very well," Williams said. "Everything's looking good for the contractor to start on the 13th."

For Gallup, said City Manager Eric Honeyfield, the pending start date is "bittersweet."

On the one hand, he said, "six months ago, we thought this project was five years off."

Thanks to some persistent pressure from city officials and some fancy financing by the state that got the city an advance on funding from the federal government, the Transportation Department moved the project up a few years.

Honeyfield added, "there's no glamorous way to do this."

"I don't pretend to minimize this project for a minute as to the problems that will occur," he said.

For the duration of the project's first two phases, scheduled to last until mid-November, traffic across the length of the overpass will often be limited to one lane in each direction. But the greatest burden on commuters, Honeyfield believes, will begin after mid-November when all four lanes over the railway tracks will be closed off and last until the end of the project.

The plan, according to Williams, is to divert the usual north-south traffic to Miyamura overpass.

For all the inconvenience Honeyfield expects the rerouting to cause, he does not expect to see an increase in accidents.

"Given the right traffic controls," he said, "these projects can be a major irritant, but they do not necessarily mean more accidents."

By slowing traffic down, they can even lower accident rates, he said, "believe it or not."

Williams said the Transportation Department would have someone devoted to traffic control issues for the duration of the project, and that the department would be prepared to adjust to problems as they develop.

To help answer any questions people might still have, the department will host two public information session at the Best Western Inn & Suites, 3009 W. Highway 66, Feb. 6 at 3 p.m. and at 6:30 p.m.