Road Warrior: Snowplow naming contest ends soon; I-40 Torrance County rest

Jan. 6—Happy Monday and Happy New Year.

I hope you had a happy and healthy holiday season.

The New Mexico Department of Transportation is reminding people they have until noon Friday to choose their favorite snowplow name.

Close to 700 entries were submitted since the contest began last month. Of that, 50 made the next cut, including the PINO Express, Anita Shovel, OptimusPlow, The SNOWMINATOR and Snow Bueno. To see the other choices and to vote, people can go to https://www.dot.nm.gov/name-a-plow/.

NMDOT will announce the top 12 names and assign them to trucks. The “winners will receive bragging rights for a lifetime,” NMDOT spokesperson Kristine Bustos-Mihelcic said.

“These trucks play an important role in keeping our communities connected and our roads safe during the winter months — so let’s give them names that reflect their importance and a bit of local flavor,” she said.

REST AREA WORK TO BEGIN: NMDOT started work Monday on a $20 million project at the Rattlesnake Rest Area, located on Interstate 40 from mile marker 207 to 208 outside Wagon Wheel.

Work will include the construction of new 2,850-square-foot restroom facilities, a picnic shelter and parking improvements, and upgrades to the water and sewer system, Bustos-Mihelcic said.

WILDLIFE OVERPASS FUNDING: The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration recently awarded the Santa Ana Pueblo about $6.4 million in grant funding to go toward designing wildlife overpasses, underpasses and other features along nearly 8 miles of U.S. Highway 550 and 19 miles of Interstate 25.

The funding is available through the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program, a new grant program created by President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, according to the Department of Transportation.

In addition to new wildlife crossings, the grant money will go toward double cattleguards, escape ramps and improved culverts. Species impacted by wildlife-vehicle collisions include mule deer, elk, pronghorn, black bear and mountain lions.

“The purpose of the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program is to improve safety for motorists and wildlife by reducing vehicle collisions with wildlife while also improving habitat connectivity and supporting the survival of threatened or endangered species,” according to the Federal Highway Administration.

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CRASH FUNDING: NMDOT and the Department of Public Safety recently received $7.5 million to improve traffic safety data sharing and analysis.

The funding will allow NMDOT to expand its crash data, achieve a uniform adoption of crash reporting standards and ensure timely and consistent data sharing with federal partners, Bustos-Mihelcic said.

The initiative is part of NMDOT’s Target Zero program, which aims to reduce traffic fatalities in New Mexico to zero by 2050. Enhancing crash data systems will help the state better identify high-risk areas and implement targeted road safety measures, including road safety audits conducted statewide, she said.

“By improving how we collect, analyze and share traffic data, this collaboration supports the Target Zero program, helping to save lives and move us closer to eliminating traffic fatalities statewide by 2050,” DPS Secretary Jason R. Bowie said in a statement.

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