I-25 construction zone in Albuquerque sees 22 crashes in 34 days

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Just a month into the years-long rebuild of two I-25 exits in Albuquerque, drivers have caused more than 20 crashes in just five weeks of construction and New Mexico State Police said it has their attention.

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Work is in full swing on one of the biggest Albuquerque road projects in over a decade, revamping I-25 between Comanche and Montgomery. However, in just 34 days, at least 22 crashes have been reported in the construction zone, according to text alerts from the New Mexico Department of Transportation.

“Some of the crashes that are happening in the work zone tend to be back-end crashes,” said Kimberly Gallegos, Public Information Officer for NMDOT. “We do expect that when traffic patterns change and the road is getting improved, we will see a change in traffic, so this kind of stuff does happen during our major construction projects.”

Just last week, NMDOT reported a crash in the work zone every single day from Tuesday to Saturday, amid heavy traffic from the New Mexico State Fair. NMSP told KRQE News 13 on Tuesday that the data is “worrisome.”

“We’re just going to have to see what the data shows. It is going to be a long project and we’re going to continue to be seen in that area until that project is finished. So, if we see a trend going one way or the other that way we can tailor our plan,” said Officer Wilson Silver, Public Information Officer for New Mexico State Police.

While there haven’t been any fatal crashes in the work zone yet, police are urging drivers to pay attention and slow down, because construction won’t end anytime soon.

“You know you see the backup in traffic and no one likes it, sitting in traffic and people can get impatient and not pay attention but they also got to understand that safety is the number one priority,” said Silver.

NMDOT said that they’re also going to be putting extra signage in the construction area and more alerts as they’re expecting another traffic spike for Balloon Fiesta. They will also pause any construction work during peak hours.

So far, around 4,000 commuters have signed up for NMDOT’s construction alert text messages. If you’re interested in signing up, you can visit their website .

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