New Mexico State Road 423

State Road 423
Paseo del Norte
Route information
Maintained by NMDOT
Length:	17.000 mi[1] (27.359 km)
Major junctions
West end:	Golf Course Road in Albuquerque
	NM 448 in Albuquerque NM 47 in Albuquerque I-25 / US 85 in Albuquerque
East end:	NM 556 in Albuquerque
Location
Counties:	Bernalillo
Highway system
State Roads in New Mexico US State Minor Scenic ← NM 421 NM 427 →

Westbound

New Mexico State Road 423 is a 17.0 mi (27.4 km) long state highway entirely within Bernalillo County, New Mexico. For its entire length, NM-423 is signed as Paseo del Norte in Albuquerque.

Route description

The highway's western terminus is at an intersection with Atrisco Vista near Double Eagle II Airport. The highway then proceeds east intersecting with Interstate 25. The highway's eastern terminus is at an intersection with New Mexico State Road 556.

From Coors Boulevard to Interstate 25, NM-423 is a freeway with a 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) speed limit. From I-25 to its eastern terminus at NM-556, NM-423 is a 6-lane divided highway with at-grade intersections with speed limits of 45-55 MPH. Initial proposals to reconstruct its interchange with I-25 would have also extended the freeway portion of NM-423 east from Jefferson Boulevard to Louisiana Boulevard. With the scaled back design, two flyover ramps would provide high-speed nonstop access between I-25 to and from points south to NM-423 to and from points west. The signalized intersections with the I-25 service roads will remain in place, as will the at-grade intersections with San Pedro Road and Louisiana Boulevard.

Paseo Del Norte, Jefferson St, and Interstate 25 construction

The New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) approved a construction design at a cost of US$93 million, US$55 million of which comes from Bernalillo County and the City of Albuquerque, US$29.75 million from the State of New Mexico, and the other US$8.25 million from federal funding. Funding was approved in November 2012; construction began in October 2013, and was completed in December of 2014.^[2] When complete, this interchange will create unimpeded access from I-25 all the way to Golf Course Road, reducing travel times and congestion for the West Side areas and Rio Rancho.

Paseo Del Norte and Interstate 25

The design calls for a hybrid stack interchange at Paseo Del Norte and I-25, where a fly-over lane from Northbound I-25 to Westbound Paseo Del Norte is built, a lane from Eastbound Paseo Del Norte to Southbound I-25 is built, going under the current southbound frontage road. a loop entrance from Westbound Paseo Del Norte to Southbound I-25 will also be built. All other interchanges will continue to use the existing diamond interchange pattern, only widening and adding lanes.^[3]

Paseo Del Norte and Jefferson Street

Jefferson street is a major artery through Journal Center, which comprises many businesses including the Albuquerque Journal.^[4] Because of the proximity of this area to I-25 and Paseo Del Norte, the construction design makes changes to the current intersection. This intersection is not grade separated, and has caused major congestion over the years, especially with the growing west side neighborhoods.^[3]

The design will create a modified Single-point urban interchange, similar to the one already in use at 2nd street. However, traffic using the flyover from Northbound I-25 to Westbound Paseo Del Norte will not be able to exit at Jefferson Street. people wishing to access Jefferson Street from I-25 will have to exit and use the diamond interchange. Traffic from Southbound I-25 to Westbound Paseo Del Norte will have a lane available to cross over Jefferson Street.^[5]

Motorist aids

In order to ease congestion and relieve the area under construction, NMDOT uses new and existing systems to notify drivers of upcoming construction delays. NMDOT already has in place several digital message boards on both I-25 and Paseo Del Norte, and delay notifications are posted as needed. the Project also opened a website, which gives as-needed information on delays and road closures.^[6]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Bernalillo County. All exits are unnumbered.

Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Albuquerque			Atrisco Vista Boulevard (formerly known as Paseo Del Volcan)	Western terminus just north of Double Eagle II airport
			NM 345 (Unser Boulevard)	At-grade intersection; west end of freeway
			NM 448 (Coors Boulevard) – Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, Cottonwood Mall (North), Corrales	Single Point Urban Interchange
Rio Grande			Bridge over the Rio Grande
			NM 47 (2nd Street) – Bernalillo, Albuquerque	Modified Single Point Urban Interchange
Albuquerque			Jefferson Street	Hybrid diamond interchange[7]
			I-25 (Pan American Freeway) – Santa Fe, Albuquerque	Hybrid stack interchange;[7] Eastern end of freeway
			San Pedro Drive
			Louisiana Boulevard
			Wyoming Boulevard
			Barstow Street
			Ventura Street
			Holbrook Street
			Eubank Boulevard
			Browning Street
			Lowell Street
			NM 556 (Tramway Boulevard)	Eastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Future Plans

The Mid Region Council of Governments (MRCOG) is proposing to start a Bus Rapid Transit service on Paseo Del Norte. This route would start in southwest Rio Rancho, cross the River on Paseo Del Norte, and terminate south of Journal Center.^[8] Plans also call for a connection to another planned BRT route on University to UNM, CNM, and the Airport.^[9][10] In order to facilitate this new route, the lanes on Paseo Del Norte would be reduced from 6 to 4 for automobile traffic, with the other 2 lanes becoming BRT dedicated lanes. Park and Ride locations would also be build on the west side.

See also

• U.S. Roads portal
• New Mexico portal

References

External links

Route map: Bing

Geographic data related to New Mexico State Road 432 at OpenStreetMap

• Paseo-I25 Project (NMDOT)
• Mrcog-nm.gov (2)