N.M. 118 closes Feb. 23 for Church Rock bridge replacement; I‑40 detour

The New Mexico Department of Transportation’s District Six office announced a full closure of N.M. 118 between N.M. 566 and Navajo Boulevard, about a mile and a half east of the bridge site, beginning Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. “Beginning Feb. 23, motorists who use N.M. State Road 118 between Church Rock and Gallup will be detoured onto Interstate 40 for several months while crews replace an aging bridge east of N.M. 566,” the announcement reported.

Crews will remove the existing structure and build two new bridges over the South Fork of the Puerco River near Church Rock, work administrators said. “Crews will remove existing structure and build two new bridges over the South Fork of the Puerco River near Church Rock.” NMDOT District Six is overseeing the project with contractor Siete Inc., and officials described the work as part of broader roadway improvements along the corridor to improve safety and long‑term reliability at the river crossing, which has faced drainage issues and structural wear.

Traffic on both eastbound and westbound N.M. 118 will be rerouted to I‑40 for the duration of the project, with work scheduled Monday through Friday during daylight hours. The closure and detour are expected to remain in place through the summer, and officials are advising drivers to allow extra travel time and follow posted detour signs. Motorists who use N.M. 118 as a frontage road parallel to Interstate 40 should plan for the I‑40 detour to replace local travel along the corridor for several months.

McKinley County Sheriff James Maiorano III said N.M. 118 will be blocked at Exit 33, the Fort Wingate exit, and that employees who work at the old Fort Wingate Army Depot will be the only traffic allowed through to reach their worksite. Local communities named in project materials include Church Rock, Iyanbito, Fort Wingate, and Rehoboth, while the route serves Gallup residents and businesses such as Fire Rock Casino and the Navajo Tech Innovation Center as well as oil industry access and Route 66 tourism sites like Red Rock State Park and Pyramid Rock.

NMDOT project documents describe N.M. 118 as “an east‑west corridor providing local access to the City of Gallup and the Navajo communities of Rehoboth and Church Rock. The roadway is classified as a principal arterial and acts as an auxiliary road for Interstate 40 in the area.” Those same NMDOT materials note that final design for the NM 118 Safety Improvement Project is close to completion and that it will be coordinated with an adjacent project, control number 6100671, and state that “Construction for this project is anticipated in 2025,” language that appears alongside the Feb. 23, 2026 closure notices without an explicit reconciliation of the two timelines.

Work will proceed under the NMDOT District Six schedule and contractor Siete Inc. through weekdays in daylight hours; expect the Fort Wingate exit closure and the I‑40 detour to remain in place for several months as the two new river crossings are built.