Interstates
Interstates in New Mexico are the following:
- I-10 Arizona to Texas
- I-40 Arizona to Texas
- I-25 Colorado to I-10
Other Important Major Roads
- US-550 Farmington to Albuquerque
- US-285 Colorado to Texas
- US-60 Arizona to Texas
- US-54 El Paso, TX to NW Texas
- SR-26 Hatch NM to Deming NM, critical for functional classification routing
State Highway Naming
The approved format for State Highway naming in New Mexico is: SR-##. The SR prefix is pronounced by TTS as "State Route".
The New Mexico-specific state route shield with the red Zia sun symbol encircling the route number is used when appropriate. The generic state route shield, similar in shape but without the symbol, is not used in New Mexico.
Former US-66
The former US-66, now known in many parts of the state as "Historic Rte 66", "Old US-66" or similar derivatives, is no longer a commissioned US highway in New Mexico. The US route shield is not used.
Locking Standard
Actual locks used may be more or less than values in the table, depending on area circumstance. Please consult the RC, SM, or appropriate AM for guidance.
| Segment Type | Default locks |
|---|---|
| Freeway | 5 |
| Ramp | 4 |
| Major Highway | 4 |
| Minor Highway | 3 |
| Primary Street | 2 |
| Street | 1 |
| • • • • Ferry • • • • | 5 |
| |-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| Railroad |-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| | 2 |
Functional Classification
Reference: Road names and Road types. New Mexico participates in the functional classification of roads.
NMDOT to Waze Functional Classification conversion
The New Mexico Classification and Color scheme comes from the official New Mexico D.O.T (NMDOT) Functional Classification (FC) map that is published by NMDOT. The legend shows what classifications NMDOT uses and what color is assigned to each class. The actual interactive State Map can be found here:
NMDOT to Waze conversion table
| Highway Systems | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interstate | US Hwy (incl. some special routes) | State Hwy (incl. some special routes) | State Hwy BUS, SPUR[a], LOOP | Locally-maintained | ||||
| example>>>>> | I-10 E | US-190 | SR-23 | SR-400 Loop | Robertson St | |||
| F u n c t i o n a l C l a s s |
Interstate | Fw | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | ||
| Principal Arterial | n/a | Major | Major | Major | Major | |||
| Minor Arterial | n/a | Major | Minor | Minor | Minor | |||
| Major Collector | n/a | Major | Minor | PS | PS | |||
| Minor Collector | n/a | Major | Minor | PS | PS | |||
| Local/Not Mapped | n/a | Major | Minor | PS | Street | |||
Deviations from FC
- Longer rural roads classified as "Major Collector" on the FC map should be set to Minor rather than PS to avoid pruning of valid routes.
- State highways that are classified on the State FC map as "Minor Arterial," but are dirt/gravel, should be set to PS and have the unpaved box checked, instead of Minor .
- SR-26, Hatch NM to Deming NM, is set to Major to allow routing from I-25 south to I-10 west and bypass Las Cruces.
- Several non-Interstate highways in New Mexico are mapped as Freeway because they are constructed to Interstate standards:
- 11 miles of US-70 in the Las Cruces area.
- 12 miles of US-84 in the Santa Fe area.
- 5 miles of Paseo del Norte (SR-423) in Albuquerque.
Points of Divergence
National standards call for a minimum 20° departure angle where roads diverge. New Mexico follows instead the SWR standard of 25° minimum.