From left are Ami Evans, DOT public information officer in Deming, and Andreas Linnan, Technical Support Engineer
Photo and article by Lynn Janes
New Mexico Department of Transportation representatives held a public meeting on July 24, 2024, at the Grant County Veterans Memorial Business and Conference Center to address any questions the public had on the safety lighting project. Andreas Linnan, technical support engineer and Ami Evans, public information officer, presented the scope of the improvements. The project number CN1102291 will be listed in the state improvements program.
The program will add additional lighting for safety in areas on highway 180 between 14th Street in Silver City to Fort Bayard Road in Santa Clara and be in key areas. Last year a road safety audit, requested by the community, had been performed on this area because of multiple problems that have happened with concerns of safety. At this point the project will only be addressing additional street lighting in the key areas. No major changes will happen at this time, and they hope it solves the problems.
Linnan identified the areas that they would focus on:
US highway 180 and Swan Street will have signal improvements.
US highway 180 and Highway 90 twill have added signage
City limits to east of Morales Road will have a speed reduction from 55 mph to 45 mph
14th Street to Rosedale Road will have striping improvements.
Arenas Valley
Kirkland Road will have signage added, flasher and speed radar detectors
Delk Drive will have intersection lighting
Casa Loma Road will have intersection lighting
Morales Road will have intersection lighting
Rio de Arenas Road will have intersection lighting
Yucca Valley will have intersection lighting
The intersection lighting will be done 600 feet in both directions. Currently they had not selected Racetrack Road to be part of this project, however Linnan said more projects would be coming. Within the next two years they would be doing more evaluations and projects.
A resident in attendance said he had heard about them putting in a median fence that would block people from crossing to enter traffic or have access to businesses and turnoffs. Linnan said it had been discussed and presented but they would not be implementing it at this time. The concern from the resident came from having restricted access due to the project. Linnan said before they implement anything new, public input would be required and assessed. He added that maybe these small improvements would solve the safety concerns, and no other projects would be needed.
They will be beginning this project by the end of this year, and it should take approximately 60 days with minimal impact. Short times of lane closures would happen.
These projects will be ongoing as funding becomes available. DOT will continue design and environmental investigations. The soonest any other project would happen would be 2027.
A resident in attendance cited a bad car accident on Ridge Road 2023. It had been caused by excessive speed and failure to yield. Linnan said that had not come up in their information, but the information they had access to had not been that recent.
This phase will not change the geometry of an intersection. The next phase may make them more restrictive.
The concern over the barrier in the middle of the road came up again. Linnan said, "We will not do what the community does not want done."
Linnan encouraged everyone to contact them with any questions or concerns in the Deming office. The phone number is 575-640-5981. Also Ami Evans can be emailed at
