I-40 Holbrook to Albuquerque et al...
Just returned from a quick {4 day 3 night} trip to visit friends in Angel Fire New Mexico. There has been a lot of discussion/speculation regarding Arizona highways lately so here is what I found:
We went north out of Payson and the 260 is a mess all the way to Heber. Lots of potholes and ravaged asphalt. Just west of Heber expect a 10 - 15 delay as it is down to one lane and will be for a while. North to Holbrook from Heber was all decent and when we got on eastbound I-40 life was good once again.
I-40 has some of the heaviest commercial truck traffic in the country but the interstate is by in large as smooth as a babies backside. Lots of fresh paving and great maintenance even through Gallup which has always been problematic. It does drop down to one lane west of Grants for several miles but other than that it is a smooth cruise all the way to Albuquerque.
North on I-25 out of Albuquerques is also in excellent condition. We took the Santa Fe relief route {599} and skirted northeast to Taos and up and over the pass {64} on into Angel Fire {check the Durango to Angel Fire thread for the latest including some pics}. The trip was just a little over 1,000 miles total and since we were in my Honda Ridgeline made great time running with the trucks at 80 {+/-} on the interstates.
Gas was all over the map for price but in Espanola we filled up for $3.18 and averaged 24 -26 mpg throughout the trip which involves a lot of climbing. Most of the run is well above 6,000' with numerous 6 - 8 and even 9,000' passes to negotiate. Looks like they are getting serious about recovering our highways from the ravages of what was a serious winter.
:C
We went north out of Payson and the 260 is a mess all the way to Heber. Lots of potholes and ravaged asphalt. Just west of Heber expect a 10 - 15 delay as it is down to one lane and will be for a while. North to Holbrook from Heber was all decent and when we got on eastbound I-40 life was good once again.
I-40 has some of the heaviest commercial truck traffic in the country but the interstate is by in large as smooth as a babies backside. Lots of fresh paving and great maintenance even through Gallup which has always been problematic. It does drop down to one lane west of Grants for several miles but other than that it is a smooth cruise all the way to Albuquerque.
North on I-25 out of Albuquerques is also in excellent condition. We took the Santa Fe relief route {599} and skirted northeast to Taos and up and over the pass {64} on into Angel Fire {check the Durango to Angel Fire thread for the latest including some pics}. The trip was just a little over 1,000 miles total and since we were in my Honda Ridgeline made great time running with the trucks at 80 {+/-} on the interstates.
Gas was all over the map for price but in Espanola we filled up for $3.18 and averaged 24 -26 mpg throughout the trip which involves a lot of climbing. Most of the run is well above 6,000' with numerous 6 - 8 and even 9,000' passes to negotiate. Looks like they are getting serious about recovering our highways from the ravages of what was a serious winter.
:C
