Big I is the name of the
freeway interchange where
Interstate 25
Interstate 25 (I-25) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 stretches from I-10 at Las Cruces, New Mexi ...
and
Interstate 40
Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...
intersect northeast of downtown
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...
.
Description
The Big I is a complex
stack interchange
A directional interchange, colloquially known as a stack interchange, is a type of grade-separated junction between two controlled-access highways that allows for free-flowing movement to and from all directions of traffic. These interchanges e ...
located in central Albuquerque, New Mexico. The interchange, reconstructed between 2000 and 2002, is the busiest in the state, handling an
average
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...
of 300,000 vehicles per day as of 2000.
The interchange accommodates traffic movements between I-25, I-40, and their associated
frontage road
A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private drive ...
s.
History
The Big I was originally built in the mid 1960s with left exits designed to handle 60,000 vehicles per day. By the late 1990s, however, it could no longer handle Albuquerque's increasing traffic flows and needed to be replaced. Construction work on a new interchange began in June 2000 and lasted until May 2002.
The reconstruction, which was budgeted to cost $221.8 million (equivalent to $ million in ),
was completed at a total cost $293 million, (equivalent to $ million in ), and took 23 months to complete. The reconstruction was the largest public works project ever undertaken in New Mexico, and was the winner of the 2002 President's Transportation Award for Highways from the
.
A survey done in 2002 showed that after the completion of the project, the hours of annual delay dropped from 16 million to just 1.1 million.
Tumbleweed Snowman
Tumbleweed Snowman is a snowman made of
tumbleweed
A tumbleweed is a structural part of the above-ground anatomy of a number of species of plants. It is a diaspore that, once mature and dry, detaches from its root or stem and rolls due to the force of the wind. In most such species, the tumbl ...
installed annually at the
right-of-way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
next to the interchange.
It was first erected in 1995 by the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority (AMAFCA) and has been an annual tradition to put one up every December.
It is built from three tumbleweeds and recycled material accessories. It starts on "Tumbleweed Tuesday" which is the Tuesday following Thanksgiving. By August, AMAFCA employees start to look for tumbleweeds they can use for their snowman. They weld their 3 tumbleweeds together on a stand to protect it from windstorms, and the snowman stands tall until the first week of January. The AMAFCA hat they use for this snowman is a 55 Gallon steel pot. The scarf around the snowman is made by one of the construction employees mother in-law.
See also
*
References
External links
American Segmental Bridge Institute websiteImage of Big I Interchange
{{authority control
Transportation in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Road interchanges in the United States