Loving residents call for improvements to U.S. Highway 285 during town-hall meeting

Pauline Ponce lost her son 35 days ago.

He was one of two men killed in a three-vehicle crash, Feb. 18 on U.S. Highway 285 between Loving and Malaga.

The men were driving south on the two-lane highway near Black River, and collided with a semitruck going north.

Michael Ponce, 39, of Roswell, was pronounced dead at the scene.

MORE: Two killed in crash near Loving

Pauline, whose grandchildren and surviving adult son Joseph Ponce still traverse the southern portion on 285 daily, is desperate for something to be done.

She doesn’t want to lose any more children.

“It’s just a carnage road,” Ponce said. “I don’t wish it on anybody, what we went through. He had a whole life. It was a heartbreaker.”

Lilia Santana’s husband just got out of surgery to repair his shoulder, after sustaining a serious injury in a January accident on 285, north of Loving near State Road 31.

“I’m concerned,” she said. “Every time we leave from Loving, it’s a risk. I’m always thinking: who’s next?”

The people of Loving and southern Eddy County are watching from homes they’ve owned for generations as the village and its smaller peripheral communities are overwhelmed by snarling truck traffic, created by an incoming boom in the oil and gas industry.

A string of fatal accidents last fall on 285 caused a panic among residents, and they called for the State of New Mexico and its Department of Transportation to step in.

The result: a multi-stage plan to upgrade and repair the road from the Texas state line to Loving.

That’s about 22 miles that will see lanes added, rearranged and upgraded to alleviate the traffic.

MORE: After crashes on U.S. 285, New Mexico residents at odds with officials over road repairs

The road improvement project is expected to cost about $61 million, and the New Mexico Department of Transportation has about $25 million allocated to the project.

About 200 concerned residents attended a Thursday town hall meeting at Loving High School, eager to voice their concerns, and hear what the State can do to help.

NMDOT District 2 Commissioner David Sepich said the project is one the department’s highest priorities.

“This is a very important project for our area,” he said. “I know there is a lot of interest. It’s really been eye opening for me about what goes into a road. There’s so many things.”

Money for the project, like all NMDOT initiatives, comes from the State’s Road Fund, Sepich said, funded by fuel and vehicle taxes.

He said the New Mexico lawmakers can appropriate more funds to the NMDOT to expedite specific projects.

But money is tight, Sepich said, and the timeline of the improvements on 285 is defined by funding.

“We’ve finally gotten it heard,” Sepich said. “(Lawmakers) are starting to hear the message. Eventually they will understand.”

The message is that lives are on the line.

In the past, Loving and southern Eddy County were known as serene farming communities.

MORE: Can you survive 285?: Locals meet in Carlsbad to discuss highway dangers

But with the oilfields nearby expanding by the day, a constant influx of workers has descended upon the remote community.

And with more men, come more trucks.

Lina Molina said the congestion is bad that she can’t even pull out of her driveway.

She said she was recently blocked in as her father suffered a heart attack, unable to pull out of her own home to get to a hospital.

Molina’s father survived the attack, but she said the incident left her and her family fearing for their own lives.

“All the rigs are blocking the driveway,” she said. “It’s not like it used to be. That used to be a farm road. They still farm. The acres are still there. But I don’t know how they’re going to keep doing it.”

What’s being done?

The ongoing growth in New Mexico’s extraction industry meant hundreds of millions in surplus funds for the State of New Mexico.

Much of the oil and gas development is centered in the southeast corner of the state, and residents fear they are not getting their fair share of the funding.

Jay Jenkins, president of Carlsbad National Bank and a Loving resident, said the state should install four lanes on 285 from Loving to Texas, to ensure there is adequate space for passing and making turns.

Such a proposal would cost more than the NMDOT’s current plan, but Jenkins said the people of southeast New Mexico deserve it for all the development right outside their doors.

More: Fines to double on 285, as state increases patrols

“We are very fortunate for this activity. There is not another community in New Mexico that has this kind of activity,” Jenkins said. “We need the best road you can put down here. We need to do something for the long term. The traffic has been here. It’s not going anywhere.

He said added costs are worth saving lives.

“We are not getting our fair share. As far as what’s being produced from this part of the state, we’re not getting our fair share,” Jenkins said. “We’re to the point where lives are being lost every day. We need a change, and that change needs to be a first-class deal.”

Sepich argued that District 2, which encompasses Eddy, Lea and Chaves counties, is one of the most highly-funded areas in the state.

He said the districts are assigned funding based on the number of lane miles.

District 2 received about $430 million in projects since 2010, Sepich said, while District 3, containing the Albuquerque metro area had only $308 million,

“When people say we’re not getting our fair share, that’s not accurate. When people start talking about money, it’s often the rumors that are out there,” Sepich said. “Yes, 285 is a disaster. We’re stepping up.”

The project was broken up into five segments.

From mile post 0, near the Texas border, to Malaga, passing lanes will be added about a mile apart, two bridges will be replaced, and deceleration lanes will be added near work sites to allow trucks to slow down before turning in.

Continuing north, between Loving and Malaga, the two-lane road will be expanded to four lanes, and street improvements will be made in the Village of Loving, and in certain heavily populated areas of Malaga.

More: Carlsbad man identified in fatal crash near Malaga

Wyatt Kartchner, vice president at Molzen Corbin — a Las Cruces-based firm commissioned to study the road and compile recommendations to the NMDOT — said the first segment, from the border north about seven miles, should be the first priority as that area had the most reported accidents.

“We recommend you start at the state line and proceed north,” he said.

Attendees at the meeting challenged the concept of starting at the border, as more people live further north in Loving and Malaga.

Local attorney Denise Madrid Boyea said that’s where the improvements should start.

“I think it’s a real mistake to start the project at the Texas state line,” she said. “We need the help here, where people live. People can’t even get out of their driveways.”

MORE: Gov. Martinez announces WIPP road improvement projects

NMDOT Cabinet Secretary Tom Church said he supports starting in Loving, and asked the option be analyzed as part of Molzen Corbin’s study.

“With moving the segments, I have no problem with that,” he said. “If we can make it happen, and quicker, let’s see if we can do it. We want to make it safe too. It’s going to continue to boom in this area.”

For Pauline Ponce, that boom has already proven fatal.

She said government agencies should consider not only the financial and logistical aspects of the project, but also the human cost.

“I would hate to see that any delays would take place,” she said. “This needs to happen as soon as possible.

“What we’re talking about with these people are their lives that are being threatened everyday by the traffic.”

Police step in

The project to repair 285, once fully funded, was estimated to take about three to four years.

To manage the danger on a day-to-day basis, while residents wait for their new road, NMDOT declared the 22-mile stretch from Texas to Loving a safety corridor.

This means fines for traffic violations are doubled, law enforcement will increase its presence, and signs and radar machines will be added to encourage careful driving.

New Mexico State Police Captain Lance Batemen said officers from Chaves and Otero counties were brought in for traffic control in the wake of the fall deaths.

“We’ve had a lot of trouble on 285 from the state line to Loving,” he said. “We’re ramping up our enforcement."

Batemen said there will be no warnings issued to drivers in the area. He said after a warning, drivers follow the law for about 30 minutes.

After a citation, he said, they abide for about seven days.

“We’re not going to sit here and try to hide it from the public that we’ll be out there,” Bateman said. “We’d love to not have to write any citations. When people get a citation, they typically don’t want another.”

Eddy County Sheriff Mark Cage was recently approved to hire a team of deputies, and dedicate them to 285.

He said the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office will work in conjunction with New Mexico State Police to control the traffic and enforce the law.

But Cage encouraged concerned residents to continue lobbying for funding to fix the road.

Politicians in Santa Fe, Cage said, need to hear the voices of the village.

“We’re the golden goose. If the goose isn’t treated right, the eggs will be low quality,” Cage said. “We need to keep hammering Santa Fe. We send a lot of money up there. We need to remember that, and that we have a voice. Don’t let your voices fall silent after tonight.”

MORE:

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Carlsbad man dies in fatal crash near Malaga

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.