Speeders beware
Laboratory employees and other motorists who travel on NM 502 are forewarned: the speed limit on a 2.5-mile stretch has been reduced to 55 miles per hour.
The speed limit had been 65 miles per hour. The reduction was implemented this week by the New Mexico Department of Transportation to enhance safety on NM 502 between roughly Pojoaque High School and San Ildefonso Pueblo, said Karyn Lujan of the state agency.
The department placed flashing message board signs on NM 502 this week to alert motorists to the change in the speed limit.
"There are a lot of vehicles trying to turn onto NM 502 from the residential entrance areas and from the high school," Ruben Garcia of the department's District Five office said. "Reducing the speed limit can help these vehicles safely enter the busy highway."
According to Lujan, this stretch of NM 502 also was reported to have one of the highest volumes of combined traffic violations, accidents, and other traffic incidents in northcentral and northwestern New Mexico.
The state agency designated NM 502 a "safety corridor" in November 2005, in response to the volume of traffic, number of accidents, and repeated unlawful driving behaviors. A safety corridor is designed to reduce traffic accidents and fatalities on certain stretches of a highway that have high accident rates. The safety corridor designation allows for an increased law enforcement presence, along with an increase in traffic violation fines.
The primary objective of a safety corridor is to instill safe driving habits among motorists and reduce accidents. Other goals include education, speed control, heightened inspections of semi-trucks and tractor-trailers, and better signage.
It also means, according to the state, that fines for drivers who are observed and stopped for speeding are doubled.
The designated safety corridor is from the junction of NM 502 and NM 4, also known as the White Rock Y, east to the junction of NM 502 and U.S. 84-285, a total of about 16 miles.
"Safety corridors are designed to make our highways safe for our citizens and the traveling public," Department of Transportation Secretary Rhonda Faught said. "We strongly believe that safety corridors will reduce accidents and save lives."
For more information, contact Lujan at 827-9567.
