New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) crews began work on a new section of construction for the $260 million I-25 Improved Project on Aug. 14, 2025, according to krqe.com.
This new section is the northbound Pan American Frontage Road between Montgomery Boulevard and Comanche Road in Albuquerque.
AUI Inc. is the designer and builder of the project.
Crews started driving steel piles into the ground on Pan American Frontage Road and Comanche Road as part of a new braided ramp foundation, krqe.com reported.
"The purpose of the braided ramps is to get easy access on and off the freeway, and it'll be more of an interchange-type exit and on ramp," NMDOT District 3 Public Information Officer Kimberly Gallegos told krqe.com. "Here on Comanche and also on Montgomery, it's gonna help with more traffic through the area."
Crews previously did the same work at the Montgomery exit and say it went smoothly.
They also will install Texas U-turns as part of the project to upgrade outdated infrastructure and help with long-term traffic flow, krqe.com reported.
"Right now, the ramps are outdated, so things back up at the light on the frontage road, and we won't have that issue anymore at this interchange," Gallegos said.
Crews switched traffic to the outside lanes of I-25 so they can work on the middle of the interstate. They are now removing the inner barrier wall to place an additional lane on southbound I-25. Recently paved Frontage Road will allow the traffic to be switched over more easily.
"We'll start to see things ramp up around the area pretty quickly," Gallegos said. "They continue to bring down the inside of the bridge at Comanche. So that portion has been done, and now we're working on wall barriers. They're chipping away at the existing wall barrier because we're gonna have to take that down to widen the freeway."
NMDOT officials said the project, which began in August 2024, will be finished in early 2027, according to krqe.com.
In 2024, the old lamp ramp at the Montgomery interchange was demolished, while piles were driven on both the west and east side at the Montgomery Boulevard Bridge, according to i25improved.com. Work also began and was completed on the North Diversion Channel Bridge, including support extensions, channel lining and foundation work. And demolition work, along with the construction of foundations and supports, was completed at the Comanche Road Bridge.
