Taken May 2005 at east end of route at Peñasco.

Length: 29.805 mi.

County: Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, Mora

History: Established 1940s. Route essentially unchanged from that time.

Improvements: Paved, two lane highway

Comments:

Length: 12.559 miles

County: Curry

History: Established mid-1950s

Improvements: Paved, two lane

Comments:

Length: 15.213 miles

County: Grant

History: Original route, established mid-1930s, is the current extent of the route. It was extended east through Mogollon to U.S. 60, though there are inconsistencies in my maps that make the extent of the route's extensions and the exact dates uncertain. It was definitely extended to U.S. 60 by the late 1940s and was marked until 1988. This segment was broken up that year: NM-159 extends to east of Mogollon; it is NFS road past Elk Mountain; NM-163 past Railroad Canyon; and NM-52 relocated from its pre-1988 northern end.

Improvements: Current section paved two lane.

Comments:

Length: 26 miles

County: Hidalgo

History: Established late 1940s. This road was brought into the state highway system about 1940 as an extension of NM-81 from its end near Antelope Wells to the west and north along what later became NM-180 and later NM-338. Any connection to the Mexican border was made part of NM-81 when the south end of that road was realigned around 1960. Removed from state highway system c. 1980.

Comments: This road has apparently been taken over by a private landowner. It shows on USGS topo maps of the area but is marked "Private Road."

See comments for photo discussion.

See also

Length: 32.416 miles

County: Hidalgo

History: This route was originally U.S. 80, the segment that turned south from the main direction of westward travel toward Douglas, Arizona. It was redesignated around 1990 when U.S. 80 was decommissioned west of Dallas. The entire loop was renumbered as SR-80 in both New Mexico and Arizona.

Improvements: Paved, two lane.

Comments: Photo at left is taken at the junction of U.S. 70 and BL I-10 in Lordsburg, a point not now, nor ever on NM-80. See my photos page (scroll to bottom) for a picture of the entire sign assembly and a discussion of why this route is erroneously marked there.

Length: 45.800 mi.

County: Hidalgo, Luna

History: Established between U.S. 80 and Hachita in the mid-1930s. The 1940 official New Mexico map shows it extended south to near Antelope Wells, then west across San Luis Pass and then back north to Animas. (The map is ambiguous enough about its markings that it could have extended north to Lordsburg - I won't assume this though.) This east-west portion became NM-79 some time in the late 1940s, and the north-south part became the extension of NM-180 from Lordsburg. The south end of NM-81 was realigned to go directly to Antelope Wells around 1960. The segment north of Hachita was renumbered NM-146 in 1988.

Improvements: Now paved in its entirety.

Comments: This looks like a very lonely road, especially since Antelope Wells is not a major port of entry.

See also

Length: 11 mi

County: Hidalgo

History: Established c. 1930. Renumbered NM-92 in 1970 to avoid duplication with U.S. 82.

Improvements:

Comments:

Length: 12.911 mi.

County: Lea

History: Established c. 1930 from Alamogordo to Texas border E of Hobbs. By about 1944, U.S. 180 was routed over NM-16, and NM-83 was rerouted over former NM-34 to the Texas border. The connection to Texas was severed in 1988 when NM-132 took over the segment of NM-83 to Texas.

Improvements: Paved, two lane

Comments: (*) The west end of this route originally went through La Luz, north of its later alignment (after the 1940s). This road is still here and the piece between U.S. 54 and La Luz was later designated NM-545 (now removed from highway system).

84

No history of a state route with this number found. See

85

Length: 34 miles

County: Curry, Quay

History: Established mid-1930s. The southern portion of the route south of House was eliminated from the state highway system in 1988, and the northern portion was incorporated into NM-252.

Comments: This is the first of a cluster of sequential routes generally located in the Llano Estacado area of eastern New Mexico. This series ran from 86 to 93 (except 90 --- and I wonder if there was a NM-90 in this area since that number was first used in the 1960s). My theory breaks down a little on finding that NM-91 was not established until the 1950s (maybe there were two smaller clusters).

See also

Length: 33 mi.

County: Quay

History: Established mid-1930s, but renumbered as an extension of NM-88 by the late 1930s to avoid conflict with U.S. 87. In 1988, this part of NM-88 was renumbered NM-278.

Comments:

Length: 21.486 mi.

County: Roosevelt

History: Established c.1930 north of U.S. 60. Extended south to Portales in the early 1930s, then east from Portales in the 1940s, eventually to the Texas border. The portion west and north of Portales became NM-267 (to U.S. 60-84) and NM-268 in 1988.

Improvements: Paved, 2-lane

Comments:

Length: 19.788 mi.

County: Quay, Curry

History: Route established mid-1930s east of NM-88 (currently 268). Extended west to NM-86 (now 252) in the mid-1950s. Portion east of Weber City renumbered NM-288 in 1988.

Improvements: Paved, two lane.

Comments: Another case where the original segment of a highway is the one that was renumbered in the 1988 renumbering.

Photo taken in Silver City, March 2008

Length: 42.77 mi.

County: Hidalgo, Grant

History: Part of the original U.S. 180 (I), it was renumbered NM-180 around 1934 when that U.S. route was eliminated. It carried that designation until about 1961, when U.S. 180 was extended west from El Paso into New Mexico (forming that route's western leg in NM) and replaced U.S. 260 to Arizona. It was then renumbered NM-90. The eastern part of this route was renumbered NM-152 in 1988.

Improvements: Two lane paved road the entire length.

Comments:

Length: 12.619 mi.

County: Guadalupe

History: Established in the 1950s as a route from Santa Rosa to Puerto de Luna. It was extended north to Santa Rosa Lake State Park in or after 1988 but appears to have been truncated at its original terminus.

Improvements:

Comments:

Length: 47 mi.

County: Roosevelt

History: Established mid-1930s, connected to Texas and then renumbered NM-116 about 1960 to match the new designation for the connecting Texas route.

Comments: This route has since been renumbered again as NM-114, again at the behest of Texas which renumbered its highway when it created a continuous route all the way to Dallas.

Length: 11.168 mi.

County: Hidalgo

History: Established c. 1930 as NM-82, was renumbered 92 around 1970 to eliminate route number duplication with U.S. 82.

Comments:

Length: 16.448 mi.

County: Quay

History: Established mid-1930s. The main change in the route alignment is that the original portion from Broadview to Bellview was made part of NM-241 in 1988. It's not clear whether the truncation at the county line occurred in 1988 or some time later.

Improvements: Gravel most its length.

Comments:

Length: 18.63 mi.

County: San Miguel, Mora

History: Established mid-1950s along its current route.

Improvements: 2-lane, paved.

Comments: Forms an alternate route, running west of NM-518 (old 3) through or connecting to some of the little villages along the east slope of the Santa Fe Mountains. It's about the same length as the corresponding segment of NM-518.

Length: 13.415 mi.

County: Rio Arriba

History: Established mid-1930s. Extended north to U.S. 84 in the 1940s, unchanged until 1988 when the southern (original part) was in part removed from the state highway system and the remainder renumbered NM-595.

Improvements: Eastern half paved.

Comments: Another case where the historic original route is the part that got the new number in 1988.

Length: 48.989 mi.

County: Sandoval, Rio Arriba

History: Established c. 1930. Possibly terminated at NM-74 (became U.S. 285) for the first few years, but extended east to U.S. 64 by mid-1930s. Extended west to NM-44 in the mid-1930s (present-day extent of route). In 1988, only the western portion retained NM-96 designation. Renumbered NM-554 (west of U.S. 285) and NM-567 and NM-570.

Improvements: Two-lane, paved.

Comments: U.S. 84 temporarily occupied this route for the first few years of its existence in the mid-1930s.

Photo taken at junction with NM-161 near I-25 exit 366

Length: 9.65 mi.

County: San Miguel

History: Established 1970s or 80s. Originally connected to NM-104, but this part of road removed from state highway system probably in 1988.

Improvements:

Comments: Actually marked from I-25 from both NM-161 exits, but ends near the more northerly exit (exit 366).

County: Sandoval

Length: ~5 mi.

History: Existed only in the early 1930s as a short road connecting NM-55 and the historic Largo Canyon route of NM-44. Gone as a separate route by the mid-1930s.

Length: ~5 mi.

County: Bernalillo

History: Created around 1960 in suburban Albuquerque, ran mostly up Edith Blvd. It began at Broadway (then numbered NM-361 and ran north on Edith to Osuna Road, where it jogged west to 2nd St. This route probably disappeared around 1988 or may have hung on a bit later, made unnecessary as the state developed more significant arterial routes on the north side of Albuquerque.

Length: Very short

County: Bernalillo

History: Date of establishment and removal from the state highway system unknown. According to Rick Ballentine, it was shown on an old street map of Albuquerque.

Comments: Rick reports that this was the driveway to the Johnson Gym. It was never marked, as far as I know. I never saw a marked route into UNM in the 1970s.

Length: 10 mi.

County: Rio Arriba

History: Established 1940s. Removed from state highway system probably in 1988.

Improvements:

Comments: Now county and NFS road. I drove around this area in the mid-1970s, and I believe this is the road that I saw an old-style route marker on.