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LOS LUNAS — The I-25 and N.M. 6 intersection and on-and-off ramps will soon be undergoing some significant improvements to reduce traffic backups on Main Street in Los Lunas.
At the Nov. 21 Los Lunas Council meeting, the councilors unanimously approved the low bid put forth by Desert Fox Inc. of $4,377,389 for the I-25/N.M. 6 On & Off Ramps Rehab and Reconstruction Project.
Los Lunas Public Works Director Michael Jaramillo said it was originally planned to be a New Mexico Department of Transportation-led project, as they own N.M. 6, “but through our partnership with them and trying to make this work, we came to an understanding that we could probably make this happen, so they asked us to take the lead on it.”
“This project started three years ago, and it originally started with the southbound off-ramp to come up into Los Lunas,” said Molzen Corbin engineer Jonah Ruybalid at the meeting. “It was to add an additional lane for the southbound to westbound movement and then over the years, this project has morphed into a lot more than that.”
Ruybalid explained the plan is to add another right turn lane on the 1-25 southbound off-ramp, to make a total of two right turn lanes. The project also includes the addition of another left turn lane on N.M. 6 to get on the 1-25 northbound on-ramp for a total of two left turn lanes.
Currently, there are five lanes on the bridge between the 1-25 and N.M. 6 intersections, but to accomplish the addition of another left turn lane, Ruybalid said a sixth lane will need to be added.
“You might be wondering, is there really enough room for a sixth lane? Believe it or not, there is,” said Ruybalid.
In a phone interview, Jaramillo said this sixth lane will be created by shrinking down the existing lane sizes on the bridge from the standard 12- to 14-foot wide size, to 11-feet wide to allow for the secondary turn lane. He said the bridge will also be repaved and restriped to accommodate for the additional lane.
Currently, there is a single “free right” lane for the westbound to northbound movement onto the 1-25 northbound on-ramp that allows people to just merge in, but that will be removed as part of the project to improve pedestrian safety, said Ruybalid.
“In order to remove that lane while still maintaining capacity, the project includes (the addition of) two right turn lanes for the westbound to northbound movement to get on to 1-25,” he said.
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Jaramillo said a traffic signal where the free right lane is at will be relocated to accommodate the new lanes. The plan is to have a stop light for the two new right turn lanes and a turn signal will now direct you to turn right onto the northbound 1-25 on-ramp.
Ruybalid said the addition of these two new lanes and the new left turn lane on the bridge require widening of the acceleration lane for the 1-25 northbound on-ramp, which will also be part of this project. He said the widening of the acceleration lane would go on for about 3,500 feet, or a little over half a mile.
Traffic signal improvements will also be done at the 1-25 southbound off-ramp to move the traffic light further west to accommodate widening of the off-ramp due to the new secondary right turn lane.
“We’re also going to reprogram the lighting system,” said Jaramillo. “Now that we’re going to add these additional lanes, we have to add some time to the clocks and change some things.”
Jaramillo said there will also be sidewalk and pedestrian improvements in the area as some sidewalks will be removed to allow for the roadway improvements. There will also be new sidewalks in some areas “mostly on the north side of the bridge that connect to the bridge. We’ll be fixing those and the crosswalks there as well.”
Ruybalid said at the meeting the pedestrian walkways on the bridge would remain as is. However, on the south side of N.M. 6 there is currently pedestrian crossing by the southbound on-ramp to get to the north side of N.M. 6 that would be removed.
“So essentially, if you’re on the south side, you have to stay on the south side to make your way through the two intersections. Same thing with the north side; you’d have to stay on the north,” said Ruybalid.
“With the growth of the community, we’ve been trying to find ways to reduce the traffic backups that we have,” said Jaramillo. “We’ve done quite a bit already with the help of Meta, where we’ve gone and re-signaled all the lights, which has made a big difference, but this one here is one that we think is going to be successful in helping us move people and not having the backups that are there in front of Walmart.”
Jaramillo said construction is estimated to begin in mid- to late-February, and he anticipates construction to last six to eight months max for full completion of the project.
“For the most part, they’re going to be working during the day, but we did provide some constraints for night work for certain activities,” said Ruybalid.
“The goal of it is to hopefully keep the majority of the bridge open during this time,” said Jaramillo. “There will be a reduction in lanes for specific things, but the goal is to hopefully keep traffic moving. There will be some delays, but I think that the outcome of the project is going to see a huge difference in some of the tie ups that we have.”
The project is funded through the Federal Highway Administration through the (NMDOT) and local village funds. The amount of $3.7 million is funded by the Federal Highway Administration while the village match is $625,00. The state LEDA (Local Economic Development Act) match is $1.3 million for the project-funding total of $5.7 million.
