U.S. Route 70 in New Mexico

U.S. Route 70
Route information
Maintained by NMDOT
Length	451.0 mi (725.8 km)
Existed	1926–present
Major junctions
West end	US 70 at the Arizona state line
	I-10 in Lordsburg US 180 in Deming I-10 / US 180 in Las Cruces I-25 / US 85 in Las Cruces US 54 from Alamogordo to Tularosa US 380 from Hondo to Roswell US 285 in Roswell US 60 / US 84 in Clovis US 60 in Texico
East end	US 70 / US 84 at the Texas state line
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided Replaced State Roads in New Mexico Interstate US State Minor Scenic

U.S. Route 70 (US 70) is the portion of an east–west highway in New Mexico that starts at the Arizona state line south of Virden and ends at the Texas state line in Texico.

Route description

After entering the state of New Mexico, US 70 heads southeast. Five miles (8.0 km)^[1] after crossing the state line, it serves as the southern terminus for New Mexico State Road 92 (NM 92). US 70 does not have another highway junction for 21 miles (34 km),^[1] where it meets New Mexico State Road 464 (NM 464) and New Mexico State Road 90 (NM 90) three miles (4.8 km)^[1] north of Lordsburg. At Lordsburg, US 70 joins with Interstate 10 (I-10) eastbound, splitting off in Las Cruces, and becoming Picacho Avenue in Las Cruces. When Picacho Avenue meets Main Street, US 70 follows Main Street northbound. US 70 then crosses I-25, and has been upgraded at this point to a controlled-access highway until entering the foothills of the Organ Mountains.

As a divided highway, US 70 then crosses the Organ Mountains via San Augustin Pass descends to the valley floor of the Tularosa Basin, and next crosses the White Sands Missile Range. Overhead missile tests can close the highway for a few hours; this generally happens once or twice a week, and typically only for an hour at a time.^[2][3] The road then passes the entrance to the White Sands National Monument, and shortly after that passes the southern end of Holloman Air Force Base. It then turns northbound, and picks up a concurrency with US 54 upon entering Alamogordo. On the north end of Alamogordo, US 54/US 70 intersects the beginning of US 82 near La Luz. The concurrency with US 54 lasts until Tularosa, and the highway remains divided until US 70 and US 54 diverge. After splitting off to the northeast, US 70 begins an ascent into the Sacramento Mountains and enters the Lincoln National Forest. The road then runs across the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation and near the resort town of Ruidoso. In Hondo, it begins another concurrency, this time with US 380. US 70 then bypasses Roswell to the northwest, together with US 285. US 70 then heads off to the northeast, running through Portales and Clovis before entering Texas at Texico.

History

When commissioned in 1926, ran from present day US 70 in Clovis, New Mexico through Vaughn, Willard all the way to Holbrook, Arizona. In 1932, US 70 was rerouted to El Paso, Texas, and the old routing was transferred to US 60 and US 260.^[4] In 1934, the routing of US 70 was changed again, to Las Cruces, the old route transferred to US 54.^[5]

Junction list

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Arizona state line		0.0	0.0	US 70 continues west into Arizona
Hidalgo	​	4.6	7.4		NM 92 – Virden
	​	25.6	41.2		NM 464 – Redrock
	​	27.1	43.6		NM 90 – White Signal, Silver City
	Lordsburg	29.3– 29.5	47.2– 47.5		NM 494 begin / I-10 Bus. to I-10 – Deming, Tucson	Interchange eastbound; at-grade intersection westbound; western terminus of NM 494 concurrency
		30.1	48.4		I-10 west / NM 494 south (Main Street)	Western terminus of I-10 concurrency, eastern terminus of NM 494 concurrency; I-10 exit 22
See I-10
Doña Ana	​	141.8– 142.3	228.2– 229.0	I-10 east (US 180 east) – Las Cruces, El Paso	Eastern terminus of I-10/US 180 concurrency; I-10 exit 135
	Fairacres	144.8	233.0	NM 359 – Mesilla
	Bridge over the Rio Grande
	Las Cruces	146.7	236.1	NM 292 – Mesilla
		147.8	237.9	NM 185 / NM 188 – Radium Springs, Mesilla
		151.1– 151.5	243.2– 243.8	—	I-25 (US 85) – El Paso, Albuquerque	Partial interchange; west end of freeway; I-25 exit 6
		151.7	244.1	—	Del Rey Boulevard / Telshor Boulevard	Direct eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		152.4	245.3	—	Sunridge Drive / Roadrunner Parkway	No direct eastbound entrance
		152.9	246.1	—	Rinconada Boulevard	No direct westbound entrance
		153.7	247.4	—	Sonoma Ranch Boulevard
		155.3	249.9	—	Mesa Grande Drive
		156.3	251.5	—	Porter Drive
		157.4	253.3	—	Holman Road / Dunn Drive
	​	159.1	256.0	—	Weisner Road / Balsam Road
	​	160.7	258.6	—	Brahman Road
	Organ	161.9	260.6	—	NASA Road / Baylor Canyon Road	East end of freeway
	​	170.7	274.7		Missile Range Headquarters / HTA	Interchange
Otero	Holloman AFB	207.3– 207.9	333.6– 334.6		Holloman AFB Main Gate	Partial interchange
	Alamogordo	211.9	341.0		To Alamogordo White Sands Airport
		213.8– 214.5	344.1– 345.2		US 54 south / White Sands Boulevard – El Paso, Alamogordo	Interchange; western terminus of US 54 concurrency; White Sands Boulevard not signed westbound
		219.3	352.9		US 82 – Artesia, Lubbock	Western terminus of US 82
	​	221.6	356.6		NM 545 – La Luz
	Tularosa	229.2– 229.3	368.9– 369.0		US 54 north – Carrizozo	Eastern terminus of US 54 concurrency
	Mescalero	246.0	395.9		Hospital, Bureau of Indian Affairs	Interchange; serves Mescalero Indian Hospital
	​	250.5	403.1		NM 244 – Cloudcroft
Lincoln	Ruidoso Downs	262.2	422.0		NM 48 – Capitan
	Hondo	285.8	460.0		US 380 – Capitan	Western terminus of US 380 concurrency
See US 380
Chaves	Roswell	332.9	535.8	US 285 south (Main Street south) / US 380 east (2nd Street east) – Artesia, Brownfield	Eastern terminus of US 380 concurrency; western terminus of US 285 concurrency
		337.0	542.3	NM 246 – Capitan
		338.4	544.6	B	US 70 Truck west / US 285 Truck south (Relief Route) / US 285 north – Vaughn, Ruidoso	Interchange; eastern terminus of US 285 concurrency; exit number is for US 285; no exit number eastbound; US 70 Truck exit A
Roosevelt	Elida	399.6	643.1		NM 114 / NM 330 – Dora, Floyd
	​	417.6	672.1		NM 480
	Portales	419.6	675.3		Portales Municipal Airport
		423.6	681.7		To NM 267 – Floyd, Melrose
		423.9	682.2		NM 206 – Dora, Tatum
		424.2	682.7		To NM 88 – Arch
		425.6	684.9		NM 236 – Floyd
		425.8	685.3		NM 467 – Clovis
	​	430.2	692.3		NM 202
Curry	Clovis	442.3	711.8		US 60 / US 84 east (1st Street west) / NM 209 north (Prince Street) – Fort Sumner, Vaughn, Santa Rosa	Western terminus of US 60/US 84 concurrency
See US 84
Texas state line		451.0	725.8	US 70 / US 84 continue east into Texas
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

Roswell truck route

U.S. Route 70 Truck
Location	Roswell, New Mexico
Length	7.5 mi[6] (12.1 km)

U.S. Route 70 Truck (US 70 Truck) runs for seven and a half miles (12.1 km) around the northwest side of Roswell. For its entire length, it is multiplexed with Roswell's Relief Route (US 285 Truck).

The entire route is in Chaves County.

Location	mi[6]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Roswell	0.00	0.00		US 285 Truck south (Relief Route south) / US 70 / US 380 (2nd Street) – Artesia, Ruidoso, Roswell	Western terminus; western terminus of US 285 Truck concurrency; road continues south as US 285 Truck (Relief Rte.)
​	5.0	8.0		NM 246 (Pine Lodge Road) – Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge
​	7.1	11.4	A	US 70 west / US 285 south to US 380 junction – Clovis	Interchange; no exit number eastbound
​	7.4– 7.5	11.9– 12.1		US 285 Truck end / US 70 east (Clovis Highway) / US 285 north	Interchange; eastern terminus; eastern terminus of US 285 Truck concurrency; northern terminus of US 285 Truck
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

U.S. Route 70
Previous state: Arizona	New Mexico	Next state: Texas