$15 Million I-40 Safety Project Begins in Gallup

Drivers crossing Gallup on Interstate 40 were facing a new round of construction after a $15 million safety rehabilitation project began May 11 on a four-mile section in each direction. The work turns one of McKinley County’s busiest travel corridors into a work zone, where commuters, freight haulers, visitors and local businesses all feel the slowdown when the interstate is under repair.

The project is being framed as a safety improvement effort, not a routine cosmetic overlay, which points to deeper concerns about the condition of the roadway through town. On a corridor that carries heavy truck traffic and regional travel through Gallup, that kind of investment signals more than a quick patch. It is aimed at making the interstate safer and more durable for the traffic that depends on it every day.

The Gallup project also fits into a broader state focus on the I-40 corridor in the city. The New Mexico Department of Transportation’s I-40 Miyamura Interchange Study covers milepost 21.7 near 2nd Street to milepost 23.7 near Boardman Drive, with the corridor reaching toward Miyamura Drive, Joseph M. Montoya Boulevard, Hasler Valley Road and New Mexico Highway 118, Old Route 66. The study looks at keeping two lanes in each direction, widening the inside and outside shoulders, adding a 26-foot flush median with a concrete barrier wall, extending ramps and addressing bridge, pavement and drainage needs.

That planning effort has already gone through a public process. NMDOT held a public meeting on Nov. 13, 2025, and accepted comments through Dec. 12, 2025. The study and design phases are funded through state and federal sources, including House Bill 2 from the 2022 legislative session. Together, the study and the new rehabilitation project show that Gallup’s interstate corridor is being treated as a long-term safety and capacity priority.

Travelers were also seeing work build up east of Gallup, where a separate $34.5 million reconstruction project was set to resume with two lanes remaining open in each direction and a reduced speed limit of 65 mph. KOAT reported daytime construction from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, with that project expected to run through late June or early July depending on weather and construction conditions. For drivers moving through western New Mexico, the message was clear: I-40 is in a sustained construction season, and Gallup sits in the middle of it.