Driving through Albuquerque during Balloon Festival

Typical for traffic to be bad approaching Bernalillo via 550 on any given day, Balloon Fiesta might magnify it a bit but not overly so. Given the choice I would still use 550 but nothing wrong with using 491 either. They have been totally redoing 550 through Bernalillo for several years and it has been a traffic nightmare regardless of events taking place in the area, it finally appears they are on the tail end of this project although one never knows for certain. Have a safe and comfortable voyage home, as usual there are spots on I-40 where there are backups due to road/bridge improvements.

Well, there is always to option to stay on US 160 to US 84 and down to US 285 and Santa Fe. This is probably the way I would go, always enjoy a stop in Santa Fe. If you've never been to Taos a good alternative would be to stop by there on this same basic route.

We have made this route several times to our home in Northeast Texas. In fact we did so in July from Silverton, CO through Durango.

Taos and Santa Fe are our favorites in New Mexico so this route comes to mind. I can tell you many good places for overnight along this route.

From Santa Fe, down to I-40 and from Amarillo US 287. We take US 82 at Henrietta, TX to avoid the DFW altogether. I2 is a good route for us.

I've taken the 491 many times but don't recall any significant truck traffic. What I do remember is that none of those secondary roads are in very good shape.

padredw wrote:
Well, there is always to option to stay on US 160 to US 84 and down to US 285 and Santa Fe.

I agree that 160 to 84-285 is an easy scenic route that will not take much longer to get to I-40 and is one of my favorites.

However, it seems like you are in a hurry if a few extra minutes of traffic in Bernalillo is a problem. Time your arrival in Bernalillo and Albuquerque to avoid rush hours and it should not be a problem to go through even during the festival.

Thanks everyone! We will not be in too much of a hurry. It was just frustrating to be in that stop and go traffic last time in the motorhome. We live out in the country and if there are more than three cars on the road by us we wonder what is going on!!!!