Big I ramp open early; I-25 lanes closing

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The maintenance work that was to shut down a Big I flyover from Friday night until Monday morning has wrapped up nearly 36 hours early, but separate projects still will be closing parts of Interstate 25 in Albuquerque starting Saturday night.

The Big I job closed the flyover connecting eastbound Interstate 40 to northbound I-25 to put a new overlay on the bridge decking.

That work was scheduled to wrap up by 5 a.m. Monday.  Instead the state's contractor crew cleared out early Saturday evening.

The New Mexico Department of Transportation credited diligent work by the contractor for making short work of the job.

During the closure I-40 traffic was directed to exit at Fourth Street to the frontage roads under the Big I to reach I-25 north of Comanche Road NE.

Still to come are lane closures on I-25 north of the Big I related to an ongoing widening project and construction of a bike and pedestrian overpass above the freeway.

The widening project is extending the northbound shoulder lane from Comanche to Jefferson to remove a bottleneck leftover from rebuilding the Big I 10 years ago.

Closures for the widening work affect only the northbound lanes and as scheduled are:

• Saturday and Sunday, 9 p.m.-5 a.m. both nights: Two right lanes closed. Exit to Montgomery Avenue NE closed 10 p.m.-midnight.
   
• Monday and Tuesday, 9 p.m.-5 a.m. both nights: Two left lanes closed.
   
• Wednesday and Thursday, 9 p.m.-5 a.m. both nights: Three right lanes closed.

The bike and pedestrian overpass is farther north between the Jefferson and San Mateo exits. The scheduled detouring of all southbound traffic there is:

• Monday 9 p.m.-Tuesday 5 a.m.: All southbound lanes closed from San Antonio to Jefferson. The frontage road also will be closed from Osuna to Jefferson. Detour signs posted.

And on top of all that, a separate "pavement preservation" project is underway still farther north resulting in various and multiple lanes closures of southbound lanes from Tramway Road to Paseo del Norte nightly from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.