I-10 bridge repairs near Road Forks to disrupt Hidalgo County traffic through May

Westbound drivers on Interstate 10 will lose a key movement at Road Forks when bridge deck repairs begin at mile marker 5 on Wednesday, April 22. During the work, westbound I-10 traffic will not be able to cross over to access New Mexico State Road 80 southbound, creating a direct disruption on one of Hidalgo County’s busiest travel links.

The project is scheduled to run through May, with lane restrictions and work-zone slowdowns expected around Exit 5. In a county of about 4,041 residents spread across 3,438.6 square miles, alternate routes are thin on the ground, and even a short-term closure at a single interchange can ripple through daily commutes, school travel, freight movement and cross-border trips between New Mexico and Arizona.

Road Forks sits in western Hidalgo County about 15 miles southwest of Lordsburg and roughly 6.2 miles east of the Arizona border, making the interchange a critical handoff point for local traffic and long-haul drivers alike. NM 80 runs 32.416 miles entirely within Hidalgo County and is the last remaining section in New Mexico to keep the old U.S. Route 80 number, adding historical weight to a route that still carries practical importance for commerce and regional travel.

The timing lands during National Work Zone Awareness Week, April 20-24, when the New Mexico Department of Transportation is pushing drivers to slow down and stay alert in construction areas. NMDOT’s Bridge Bureau oversees bridge design, inspection and maintenance statewide, while the Bridge Management Section handles bridge inspections and maintenance for NMDOT-owned structures, part of a broader effort to keep the state’s highway network in service rather than a one-off fix at Exit 5.

The Road Forks work follows another recent interruption on the same corridor: the I-10 bridge at Exit 24 near Lordsburg reopened Jan. 30 after months of crash repairs. For Hidalgo County motorists and freight operators, the back-to-back projects show how quickly a single stretch of interstate can shape access, schedules and deliveries across southwestern New Mexico.