Snow-packed and icy roads slows down motorists across New Mexico

Snow-packed and icy roads slows down motorists across New Mexico

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Wednesday’s winter storm has wreaked havoc on roads, forcing interstate and highway closures statewide. KRQE News 13 spoke with the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) and a driver about the consequences of those closures.

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Ron Thieme is one of the drivers stuck in dangerous conditions near Clines Corners overnight: “I don’t know if I’m going to be spending the night here, we’re just left hanging, and it’s upsetting. We don’t know if we’re ever gonna get out of here.”

Thieme and his daughters are driving through from Florida on their way to Montana; but last night, they got stuck in the winter storm on I-40 east of Clines Corners. “We ended up spending the night in our car, we weren’t able to move forward, trucks all around, and we couldn’t get around them without getting stuck off the road,” Thieme said.

They drove smack dab into just one of the many road closures being felt across the state. “So pretty much the northeastern part of the state is in severe driving conditions,” said Travis Martinez, public information officer for NMDOT District 4.

US64 between Raton and Clayton, US56 from Springer to Clayton, and Raton Pass to the Colorado border were all closed Thursday with blizzard conditions.

“Our trucks are having a hard time keeping up with the snowfall and drifting,” Martinez said, “once the trucks push the snow off to the side of the road, a lot of that snow gets blown back onto the road by the high winds that are coming off of the mountains there.”

NMDOT says it’s also heard from the drivers stuck near Clines Corners. “I’ve gotten calls from stranded motorists and there’s really nothing we can do, you know we’re coming at it from the back end, try to pull the people who are causing the problem out, and then there’s more behind them,” said Jim Murray, public information officer for NMDOT District 5.

More snow is expected, leaving Thieme with nothing but frustration, “what I’m really having a problem with is that it’s easy enough to drive into this storm but I can’t drive out because they closed the highway down on the west side of the storm.”

Unable to turn around or get any help from emergency responders Thursday afternoon, Thieme says he’s lucky the family packed supplies before hitting the road. “Luckily we filled up right before we got on so we’re down to about half a tank; we’ve been living on a couple of bottles of water and a few sandwiches,” Thieme said.

NMDOT is telling drivers to stay off the roads, as the snow is expected to continue across much of New Mexico through Friday. If you have to be out, they are urging people to stay 50 feet away from plows, do not try to pass them and pack warm clothes, food, and water in case you get stuck.

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