The New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) is encouraging residents to help rename a highway feature known across the Southwest as the “Texas U-turn,” a move that combines public engagement with a hint of interstate rivalry.
NMDOT is introducing a new Advanced U-turn (AUT) as part of the state’s ongoing Interstate 25 improvement project between Comanche Road and Montgomery Boulevard in Albuquerque. The project, according to officials, is already progressing ahead of schedule.
The design itself is simple yet efficient. Rather than forcing motorists exiting the freeway to pass through two traffic lights to make a U-turn, drivers remain in the far-left lane of the frontage road and execute a designated U-turn at or near the overpass, allowing them to travel the opposite route with fewer stops.
The design has long been associated with Texas. It is where sprawling frontage-road systems made the “Texas Turnaround” a popular feature of urban driving. Transportation planners have praised the design for reducing delays, streamlining flow, and easing congestion at key junctions.
But New Mexico officials are adamant about embracing the Lone Star branding. “Texas has famously named the AUTs ‘Texas Turnarounds,’ but we obviously aren’t Texas, and we honestly think we can do better,” the NMDOT said in a news release. “Plus, if our snowplow names have taught us anything, it is that there is a lot of creativity in the Land of Enchantment.”
The search for a new name comes amid a backdrop of rivalry between the neighboring states. To say that relations between New Mexico and Texas are tense is an understatement. Texas is considering annexation of several New Mexico counties.
Transportation officials appear keen to implement the new road feature. They want the new name to depict a distinct New Mexican identity.
NMDOT has opened a public contest seeking creative submissions inspired by New Mexico culture or reflective of the U-turn concept itself. Residents have until noon on June 26 to submit their entries to the naming contest through the department’s online portal. They may also scan a QR code included in promotional materials.
The rules are simple:
- Each participant may submit only one name;
- NMDOT will reject entries containing vulgar, profane, or otherwise inappropriate language; and
- NMDOT will not consider politically inspired submissions, including references to politicians, campaign slogans or public figures.
The initiative underscores a bigger effort by NMDOT to involve the public in projects that often take place away from public view. Officials are turning an otherwise routine engineering upgrade into an opportunity to search for local identity.
The design may trace its roots to Texas. But New Mexico is determined to make it its own. Motorists in Albuquerque will soon be turning in an unmistakably New Mexican way.