Interstate 40 in New Mexico
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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by NMDOT | ||||
| Length: | 373.510 mi (601.106 km) | |||
| Existed: | 1957 – present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end: |
 I-40 at the Arizona state line |
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 US 491 in Gallup  I-25 / US 85 in Albuquerque US 285 near Clines Corners  US 54 / US 84 in Santa RosaUS 54 in Tucumcari
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| East end: |
I-40 at the Texas state line |
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| Location | ||||
| Counties: | McKinley, Cibola, Bernalillo, Santa Fe, Torrance, Guadalupe, Quay | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Interstate 40 (I-40), a major east–west route of the Interstate Highway System, runs east–west through Albuquerque in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the direct replacement for the historic U.S. Route 66 in New Mexico.
As I-40 enters New Mexico in a northeasterly direction it begins following the basin of the intermittent Puerco River, roughly tracing the southern edge of the contiguous part of the Navajo Reservation in the state. The freeway enters Gallup twenty miles (32 km) later paralleling the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway's southern transcontinental mainline. Leaving Gallup the now more easterly I-40 passes to the north of Fort Wingate and part of the fragmented Cibola National Forest before crossing the North American continental divide at an elevation of 7,275 ft (2,217 m), with 11,305 ft (3,446 m) stratavolcano Mt. Taylor towering to the east.
The highway traverses more of the Navajo Reservation and the Cibola Forest before turning southeast and crossing a malpaís. After serving interchanges near Grants, the freeway, coinciding with the northern boundary of El Malpais National Monument, crosses another malpaís, turns east and enters the Acoma Indian Reservation, home of the Acoma Pueblo. The route leaves the Acoma Indian Reservation with Mt. Taylor to the north and enters the Laguna Pueblo. Near the interchange with NM-6 the railway line that accompanies much of the route from the Arizona border diverts to the south while the freeway turns east by northeast towards Albuquerque. The route departs the Laguna Pueblo, briefly transits the Tohajiilee Indian Reservation (a chapter of the Navajo Nation), crosses the Rio Puerco and begins a steep climb to the top of a mesa marked by several small cinder cones overlooking the Rio Grande rift and Albuquerque.
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