Big I

Big I

On I-40 approaching the Big I
Location
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Coordinates: 35°06′17″N 106°37′48″W / 35.1048°N 106.6300°W / 35.1048; -106.6300Coordinates: 35°06′17″N 106°37′48″W / 35.1048°N 106.6300°W / 35.1048; -106.6300
Roads at
junction:		 I-25
I-40
Construction
Type: Stack interchange
Constructed: June 2000 – May 2002 (reconstruction)
Opened: 1966 (1966) (original)
May 2002 (reconstruction)
Maintained by: NMDOT

Big I is the name of the freeway interchange where Interstate 25 (I-25) and I-40 intersect northeast of downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States.

Description

The Big I is a complex stack interchange located in central Albuquerque, New Mexico. The interchange, reconstructed between 2000 and 2002, is the busiest in the state, handling an average of 300,000 vehicles per day as of 2000.[1] The interchange accommodates traffic movements between I-25, I-40, and their associated frontage roads.

Every December since 1995, the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority installs a snowman made of tumbleweed in the right-of-way next to the interchange.[2]

History

The Big I was originally built in the early 1960s with left exits designed to handle 60,000 vehicles per day. By the late 1990s, however, it could no longer handle Albuquerque's increasing traffic flows and needed to be replaced. Construction work on a new interchange began in June 2000 and lasted until May 2002.

The reconstruction, which was budgeted to cost $221.8 million (equivalent to $305 million in 2016[3]),[1] was completed at a total cost $293 million, (equivalent to $385 million in 2016[3]), and took 23 months to complete. The reconstruction was the largest public works project ever undertaken in New Mexico, and was the winner of the 2002 President's Transportation Award for Highways from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.[4] A survey done in 2002 showed that after the reconstruction the hours of annual delay dropped from 16 million to just 1.1 million after the completion of the project.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Major construction contract goes to Twin Mountain". Amarillo Globe-News (Morris Communications). Associated Press. February 8, 2000. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
  2. ↑ Fleck, John (November 30, 2010). "Tumbleweed Snowman Makes His Appearance". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
  3. 1 2 "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Big I team wins transportation award". New Mexico Business Weekly. September 26, 2002. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Bottlenecks choking U.S. roadways". CNN. February 19, 2004. Retrieved December 1, 2010.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, March 12, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.