Several drivers have called KOAT complaining about a standstill of traffic along highways throughout New Mexico. Some have been stuck on the roadway for more than 12 hours.”He had been in Texas on a hunting trip, and he was driving back from Texas, going through Carlsbad, Roswell. Vaugh, Clines Corners,” said Linda Boddy. Her husband, Michael, was supposed to be home Thursday, but is still stranded on Highway 285.”He got to Encino. The roads were icy, but nothing significant. And then somewhere between Encino and Clines Corners, it became a standstill about 7 last night. And for about 12 hours, they did not move,” Boddy said. Her husband grew up in New England and is accustomed to snow and cold weather.Michael is in his truck with four-wheel drive, pulling a trailer with supplies. But Linda told KOAT he still had issues on the roads, and once he got stuck, people began asking to use the restroom in his trailer.”He said this morning about 3 a.m. when I talked to him, that it was a solid sheet of ice, very thick ice,” she said. “He ended up sliding off the road. We ordered a tow truck, but then some good Samaritans pulled him out.”According to the New Mexico Trucking Association, Michael wasn’t alone. Several truck drivers reported icy and dangerous driving conditions along I-40 and have been stuck in their trucks for 12 to 24 hours. “For the first snowstorm to hit the New Mexico area, this one was a little bit more severe than in the past,” said John Montoya with the New Mexico Trucking Association. “There’s been a lot of drivers that have been pulled off to the side of the road, just kind of parked to the side to see if things were to let up and get easier.”Montoya is also a line-all manager with ABF Freight and manages 160 drivers. He told KOAT, at a certain point, he stopped sending truckers eastbound on I-40 due to conditions and to avoid accidents.”A lot of drivers have been getting into certain areas like Moriarty, the Santa Rosa area, where there are hotels, and they’ve been able to successfully get into a hotel to lodge for the evening until the roads open. But we’ve had a large number of drivers have also been stuck on the side of the road,” Montoya said.KOAT drove along I-40 eastbound and encountered traffic roughly a mile from the Zuzax exit. It took our crew about 45 min to drive half a mile.Michael’s nine-hour drive took him roughly 35 hours. He made it home to Linda Friday afternoon.”I checked New Mexico State Police. I checked Department of Transportation, the highway department. There was nothing. There was nothing that said that there was a problem,” Linda said.She claimed the NM Roads maps were not updating in real-time, and if they were, her husband would have stayed in Carlsbad for the night. She’s not the only driver who said they had issues with NM Roads.”New Mexico DOT to have misleading, difficult-to-read labeling, there are road conditions that you can’t read into the seconds flat,” said Susan Dumas. “Then they have a road closure sign that was not signaling, flashing, doing anything.”Dumas was headed to Nevada from Florida when she got stuck in the traffic delays in New Mexico. She told KOAT she was trying to read NM DOT maps and it wasn’t updated or easy to figure out the driving conditions on her phone.Since Thursday night, she’s been stuck on U.S. 60.”I have the privilege of riding in a recreational vehicle. We have food and we have a bathroom. And I have a furnace. I felt so sorry for the lady in front of me that had to go over and pee in the snow,” Dumas said.She told KOAT she tried calling the Department of Transportation to get updated information and wasn’t able to get in touch with anyone.”Which is why I finally called your news desk, because I was wondering, as an intelligent human being, I couldn’t get a hold or reach out to anybody for information,” Dumas said.The New Mexico Department of Transportation sent KOAT a statement.”NMroads.com is updated around the clock with the latest information received from employees in the field. Crashes from earlier today, paired with residual weather from a long duration storm created backups and traffic in some concentrated areas. Additional notifications were added to NMroads.com to help inform travelers of delays and provide updates for truck stop locations to commercial traffic in an effort to address backups we were seeing and hearing from travelers. Road closure decisions are made by law enforcement and then communicated to NMDOT to post those closures.”
Several drivers have called KOAT complaining about a standstill of traffic along highways throughout New Mexico. Some have been stuck on the roadway for more than 12 hours.
“He had been in Texas on a hunting trip, and he was driving back from Texas, going through Carlsbad, Roswell. Vaugh, Clines Corners,” said Linda Boddy.
Her husband, Michael, was supposed to be home Thursday, but is still stranded on Highway 285.
“He got to Encino. The roads were icy, but nothing significant. And then somewhere between Encino and Clines Corners, it became a standstill about 7 last night. And for about 12 hours, they did not move,” Boddy said.
Her husband grew up in New England and is accustomed to snow and cold weather.
Michael is in his truck with four-wheel drive, pulling a trailer with supplies. But Linda told KOAT he still had issues on the roads, and once he got stuck, people began asking to use the restroom in his trailer.
“He said this morning about 3 a.m. when I talked to him, that it was a solid sheet of ice, very thick ice,” she said. “He ended up sliding off the road. We ordered a tow truck, but then some good Samaritans pulled him out.“
According to the New Mexico Trucking Association, Michael wasn’t alone. Several truck drivers reported icy and dangerous driving conditions along I-40 and have been stuck in their trucks for 12 to 24 hours.
“For the first snowstorm to hit the New Mexico area, this one was a little bit more severe than in the past,” said John Montoya with the New Mexico Trucking Association. “There’s been a lot of drivers that have been pulled off to the side of the road, just kind of parked to the side to see if things were to let up and get easier.”
Montoya is also a line-all manager with ABF Freight and manages 160 drivers. He told KOAT, at a certain point, he stopped sending truckers eastbound on I-40 due to conditions and to avoid accidents.
“A lot of drivers have been getting into certain areas like Moriarty, the Santa Rosa area, where there are hotels, and they’ve been able to successfully get into a hotel to lodge for the evening until the roads open. But we’ve had a large number of drivers have also been stuck on the side of the road,” Montoya said.
KOAT drove along I-40 eastbound and encountered traffic roughly a mile from the Zuzax exit. It took our crew about 45 min to drive half a mile.
Michael’s nine-hour drive took him roughly 35 hours. He made it home to Linda Friday afternoon.
“I checked New Mexico State Police. I checked Department of Transportation, the highway department. There was nothing. There was nothing that said that there was a problem,” Linda said.
She claimed the NM Roads maps were not updating in real-time, and if they were, her husband would have stayed in Carlsbad for the night. She’s not the only driver who said they had issues with NM Roads.
“New Mexico DOT to have misleading, difficult-to-read labeling, there are road conditions that you can’t read into the seconds flat,” said Susan Dumas. “Then they have a road closure sign that was not signaling, flashing, doing anything.”
Dumas was headed to Nevada from Florida when she got stuck in the traffic delays in New Mexico. She told KOAT she was trying to read NM DOT maps and it wasn’t updated or easy to figure out the driving conditions on her phone.
Since Thursday night, she’s been stuck on U.S. 60.
“I have the privilege of riding in a recreational vehicle. We have food and we have a bathroom. And I have a furnace. I felt so sorry for the lady in front of me that had to go over and pee in the snow,” Dumas said.
She told KOAT she tried calling the Department of Transportation to get updated information and wasn’t able to get in touch with anyone.
“Which is why I finally called your news desk, because I was wondering, as an intelligent human being, I couldn’t get a hold or reach out to anybody for information,” Dumas said.
The New Mexico Department of Transportation sent KOAT a statement.
“NMroads.com is updated around the clock with the latest information received from employees in the field. Crashes from earlier today, paired with residual weather from a long duration storm created backups and traffic in some concentrated areas.
Additional notifications were added to NMroads.com to help inform travelers of delays and provide updates for truck stop locations to commercial traffic in an effort to address backups we were seeing and hearing from travelers.
Road closure decisions are made by law enforcement and then communicated to NMDOT to post those closures.”
