NEW SETUP AT I-25/MLK:

As the New Mexico Department of Transportation and Star Paving continue to work on this interchange and remove the northbound exit ramp, drivers should be aware of changes already here and on the way.

The northbound exit ramp is closed, and drivers need to exit at Lead/Coal and continue north on Oak to access Martin Luther King Boulevard – this is the final configuration. Starting at 8 p.m. Sept. 6, crews will modify the shoulder of northbound I-25 between Central and MLK to remove the ramp, and northbound I-25 will be reduced to two lanes for the next three weeks.

Crews will also be repaving Oak Street between Central Avenue and MLK, first the west side, then the east side.

Work is expected to wrap up in December.

WYOMING ISN’T DONE: Charles R. Spicher emails that “within the past several months Wyoming between San Antonio/Harper and Academy was ‘resurfaced.’ The city wasted a lot of taxpayers’ money on this project. The slurry seal did not cover the entire roadway – there are many areas that the old surface was not covered and the old, cracked roadway is still present/visible. The road is still uneven, cracked and “bumpy.” Other sections of Wyoming and Academy have been recently resurfaced and the results were excellent.”

The city says the disparity is because those other areas are finished, and Wyoming between San Antonio and Academy isn’t.

Scott Cilke, spokesman for the city’s Department of Municipal Development, explains “we have had supply chain issues with acquiring the final overlay that is required to complete this project. However, we have recently found out we should be receiving the necessary materials soon and should be able to complete this stretch in the coming weeks.”

NEITHER IS CANDELARIA: Dennis emails “the contractor who did the street overlay on Candelaria between Juan Tabo and Tramway should not ever be hired again – really did a bad job. It’s been complete for two months, no striping on lanes, uneven overlay.”

Cilke says this is a “similar situation (to the Wyoming project) but with a different material. Instead of needing an overlay, this is waiting for the installation of a final micro surfacing and is not yet complete. (We’re) having supply chain issues with the final resources needed, and we’re hoping to (have) the materials and complete this stretch as soon as possible.”

Kimberly Gallegos of NMDOT’s District 3 Albuquerque office says the work, which started Aug. 22, was to apply “the OGFC – open graded friction course – final paving. This is just to pave the final layer of the project and should provide minimal impacts to traffic.”

COORS MESSAGE BOARD OFFLINE: And Maria P. asks in an email “what good are the electronic message boards on the freeway or Paseo del Norte if they aren’t going to be used?

“On Sunday Aug. 21, I-25 south was down to two lanes and then down to one for bridge repairs. There was no warning on the message board on southbound Coors at Paseo and no notice on the board on eastbound Paseo. If I would have known this disruption was going on, I would have taken a different route. Why was there no message on the electronic boards? Several other times there were accidents and also no message on the electronic boards. What gives?”

NMDOT says the Coors sign was out of service and is scheduled for maintenance, and according to records, the eastbound Paseo sign that’s between Edith and Jefferson was displaying two alternating messages in reference to the bridge work: BRIDGE WORK 8/20 – 8/21 7AM TO 7PM and [email protected] REDUCED TO 1LANE SEEK ALT ROUTE.

Editorial page editor D’Val Westphal tackles commuter issues for the metro area on Mondays. Reach her at 823-3858; dwestph[email protected]; or 7777 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87109.