I-40 overpass work forces a detour

ENDEE - Operators at Russell's Travel Center aren't the only ones hoping an ongoing replacement of an aged overpass over Interstate 40 finishes as quickly as possible.

Quay County road officials are hoping it wraps up soon, as well.

Construction on the overpass at Exit 369 at the truck stop where Highways 93 and 392 converge began a few weeks ago. The work forced the closing of about a mile of I-40, but traffic in both directions has been allowed to go through the area - albeit slowly - on the connecting entrance and exit ramps.

Eastbound motorists, however, who want to use Russell's must take a detour at the Bard exit and drive several miles on the north outer road to get there. Or else they must exit at Glenrio, then double back on I-40 westbound.

Mark Russell, director of operations at Russell's, said business has fallen 35% to 40% since the overpass closed Nov. 2 because many eastbound motorists - especially truckers on a tight schedule - consider the Bard detour too inconvenient or too slow.

But the drop-off isn't as bad as Russell had anticipated.

"I'd been dreading this for two years, to lose half of my road access," he said. "But it's been a little bit better than we'd expected."

Russell said the 24-hour Endee travel center, which contains a restaurant, a chapel and a Route 66 museum, averages more than 4,000 customers a day. It opened in 2010 at the former site of the Texas Longhorn No. 2 restaurant that closed in the early 1990s. The Longhorn was the descendant of the original Texas Longhorn eatery in Glenrio that was bypassed by I-40 in the early 1970s.

Replacing a nearly 50-year-old overpass ordinarily would require months of construction. However, the general contractor, Kiewit Construction of Omaha, Nebraska, pledged to tear down the old overpass and build a new one within 28 days.

Chris Urioste, assistant district engineer for New Mexico Department of Transportation District 4, said the $4.78 million contract gives the contractor a bonus of $14,000 for each day it finishes the job early.

Adam Geis, a Kiewit project manager, said his company can get the job done quicker because it's using prefabricated deck slabs, saving time on not having to wait for a poured concrete deck to cure. He said it is the first project in New Mexico to use prefabbed slabs.

When poured concrete is necessary, he said Kiewit uses ultra-high performance concrete that cures in one day, instead of a week.

Geis said he expects the new overpass to open to traffic before Thanksgiving.

Russell said he's been impressed with the professionalism of Kiewit and state officials in the days leading up to and during the project. The state erected a temporary sign on I-40 near Bard informing eastbound travelers about the detour and added temporary lights at that exit to assist motorists at night.

While the construction has been disruptive to Russell Travel Center's business, it's been unexpectedly disruptive in other ways.

Quay County road superintendent Larry Moore told county commissioners at a meeting last week some truckers' navigation systems had mistakenly said I-40 at Russell's was closed, prompting them to drive south on Quay Road M and east onto the narrow, gravel surface of old Route 66.

That stretch of primitive road contains two 1930s bridges - including one that soon will be bypassed with a new span - that are load-rated at eight tons. Some trucks weigh as much as 40 tons.

The unexpected detours by big rigs onto a road not designed to handle them prompted Moore and his crews to erect a "Road Closed" sign south of the Bard exit on Quay Road M.

Russell said the travel center employs nearly 70 people, but he's refrained from temporary layoffs during the slowdown. Instead, he's encouraged workers to take vacations during this time if they can.

"We're all hanging in there - not only for our business, but for our employees," he said.

A few Quay County residents have encouraged peers on social media to give Russell's Travel Center extra business during this time to ease its suffering.

Russell said he's taken note of those appeals.

"It's tremendous, but I almost expect it from people in Quay County," he said. "They're very community-oriented, though it's a very rural. I've been very impressed, and it's been very refreshing. It's been that way since we opened."