Interstate 10 in New Mexico

Interstate 10
I-10 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by NMDOT
Length:	164.264 mi[1] (264.357 km)
Existed:	1957[2] – present
Major junctions
West end:	I-10 at the Arizona state line
	US 70 in Lordsburg US 180 in Deming US 70 in Las Cruces I-25 / US 85 in Las Cruces
East end:	I-10 / US 85 / US 180 at the Texas state line
Location
Counties:	Hidalgo, Grant, Luna, Doña Ana
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business State Roads in New Mexico US State Minor Scenic ← NM 10 NM 11 →

Interstate 10 (I-10) in the US state of New Mexico is 164.264-mile (264.357 km) long main route of the Interstate Highway System. I-10 traverses Southern New Mexico through Hidalgo, Grant, Luna, and Doña Ana counties. The Interstate travels west–east between the Arizona state line and the interchange with I-25 in Las Cruces, and then travels north–south into Texas. U.S. Route 80 (US 80) was replaced by I-10 through New Mexico, and was removed in two stages, with all the signage removed by October 1991.

Route description

I-10 enters New Mexico and Hidalgo County from Cochise County, Arizona as a four lane divided highway. The highway travels east through rural southeast New Mexico, passing between Steins Mountain and Attorney Mountain, part of the Peloncillo Mountains, before passing by the ghost town of Steins. Continuing east, the southern terminus of New Mexico State Road 80 (NM 80) is intersected, serving Rodeo, followed by NM 338. Passing Lee Peak the highway turns southeast entering Lordsburg. US 70 is intersected in town, and becomes concurrent with the highway as it continues east past the Lordsburg Municipal Airport, before exiting the town. Near the Grant County line is the Shakespeare ghost town that the highway bypasses. Entering Grant County, the highway continues southeast then northeast after intersecting NM 146. The highway passes over the Continental Divide on the Grant-Luna county line. Continuing east, the highway intersects the city of Deming and the highway becomes concurrent with US 180 as the three highways continue east. The highway enters Doña Ana County as it approaches Las Cruces. US 70 exits the highway as it enters the city (becoming Picacho Avenue), and the Interstate begins to turn south. Just south of the New Mexico State University campus, I-10 has a junction with the southern terminus of I-25. At the I-25 junction, I-10/U.S. Route 180 also becomes concurrent with U.S. Route 85. At this point, the Interstate is now headed almost due south before crossing into El Paso County, Texas at Anthony.^[3]

• Note: the speed limit has increased from 70 to 75 mph on I-10 from Mesquite to Anthony at the Texas state line. And I-10 south of Las Cruces is now 3 lanes in each direction.

History

I-10 replaced US 80 through New Mexico, bypassing major portions of old US 80 in the western portion of the state and in Doña Ana County. US 80 was one of the original United States Numbered Highways established in 1926.^[5] The portion of US 80 between the Arizona state line and Anthony was decommissioned on October 6, 1989, while the remainder of the route though the state was removed October 12, 1991.^[6]

From 1927 to 1960, the section of Interstate 10 between Road Forks and the Arizona state line was designated New Mexico State Road 14 (NM 14). Though it was only 5-mile (8.0 km) long, NM 14 and its Arizona counterpart, SR 86, served as a direct bypass for US 80 between Road Forks and Benson, Arizona. US 80 itself looped south to Douglas, Arizona at the Mexican border between Road Forks and Benson. By the late 1940s, NM 14 had been paved and carried the majority of US 80 traffic by 1950. With the advent of I-10, NM 14 was removed from the State Road system in 1960.^[4]

The Interstate was first numbered I-10 by the American Association of State Highway Officials, in cooperation with the Department of Commerce, in 1957.^[2]

Exit list

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Hidalgo		0.00	0.00		I-10 west	Continuation into Arizona
		3.56	5.73	3	Steins
		5.80	9.33	5	NM 80 south – Road Forks	Former US 80
				11	NM 338 south – Animas
				15	Gary
	Lordsburg			20	I-10 Bus. east (West Motel Drive) / Rest Area	Signed as exits 20A (Rest Area) and 20B (I-10 Bus.) eastbound; Rest Area not signed westbound
				22	NM 494 (Main Street)
				24	I-10 Bus. west (East Motel Drive) / US 70 west	West end of US 70 overlap
				29	Ulmorris Road	Exit does not sign this road
Grant				34	NM 113 south – Playas
				42	Separ
				49	NM 146 south – Hachita, Antelope Wells
Luna				55	Quincy
				62	Gage
				68	NM 418 east
	Deming			81	I-10 Bus. east (West Pine Street)
				82A	US 180 west / NM 26 east to I-25 – Silver City, Hatch	West end of US 180 overlap; eastbound entrance is via exit 82B
				82B	Cedar Street, Railroad Boulevard	Westbound entrance is via exit 82A
				85	I-10 Bus. west (East Pine Street)
				102	Akela
Doña Ana				116	NM 549 west
				127	Corralitos Road
	Las Cruces			132	Las Cruces International Airport
				135	US 70 east (West Picacho Avenue)	East end of US 70 overlap
				139	NM 292 south (Motel Boulevard)
				140	NM 28 (Avenida de Mesilla)
				142	NM 101 west (University Avenue) / NM 188 north (Valley Drive) / NM 478 (Main Street)	NM 478 follows route of US 80/US 85 before the Interstate Highway system
				144	I-25 north / US 85 – Las Cruces, Albuquerque	West end of US 85 overlap
				151	Mesquite
				155	NM 227 west – Vado, Berino
				162	NM 404 – Anthony, Chaparral
		164.26	264.35		I-10 / US 180 east / US 85 south	Continuation into Texas
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

See also

• Business routes of Interstate 10
• New Mexico portal
• U.S. Roads portal

References

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

• Media related to Interstate 10 in New Mexico at Wikimedia Commons

Interstate 10
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