GRIP U.S. 64/87 - Raton to Clayton

 

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News:

Officials Break Ground on Last of Nine State Highway Projects Funded by ARRA

 

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Gov. Bill Richardson on Dec. 15 broke ground on the reconstruction of GRIP U.S. 64/87 between Raton and Clayton. The 81-mile highway project includes widening two lanes to four lanes.

“This is an ambitious project,” Richardson said. “It accounts for about one-fifth of New Mexico’s yearly highway construction budget.”

“Commercial truck traffic on this highway carries between $60 billion and $100 billion worth of goods a year,” said New Mexico Department of Transportation Secretary Rhonda Faught. “Our highways are an important link between major commercial centers in California and Texas. This highway links Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Mexico traffic.”

The New Mexico segment of U.S. 64/87 is designated as a high priority in the Ports-to-Plains Corridor, which extends from the Mexico border at Laredo, Texas, to Denver, Colorado. This corridor is recognized as important to international trade and economic development having received Congressional Earmark money to begin study and development.

The corridor carries a high percentage of heavy commercial truck traffic and has a high incedence of severe traffic accidents, most notably a recent crash with five fatalaties. The proposed improvements include reconstruction and widening to a four-lane highway to enhance safety and provide for economic opportunity.

The reconstruction work is divided into seven segments and will stretch into 2010. To date, four phases have been completed and one is currently under construction. The completion of the sixth phase, that began in September 2009 and is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will provide 66 miles of four-lane highway in the corridor.