45th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2002

REQUESTING THE STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION TO INCLUDE IMPROVEMENTS TO NEW MEXICO HIGHWAY 371, THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL HIGHWAY, IN ITS FIVE-YEAR PLAN.

WHEREAS, the Vietnam veterans memorial highway, New Mexico highway 371, connects Thoreau to Farmington; and

WHEREAS, some of the most remote Navajo communities in New Mexico are located along this route; and

WHEREAS, the Vietnam veterans memorial highway is a bus route for school buses taking children into Crownpoint and Farmington; and

WHEREAS, the surface of the road is in need of repair, as its numerous potholes and cracked pavement cause damage to vehicles and create dangerous driving conditions; and

WHEREAS, emergency medical service vehicles travel this route to get people to the hospital or to provide services to victims of accidents and other emergencies; and

WHEREAS, many people travel on New Mexico highway 371 to shorten their drive between Gallup and Farmington and to avoid traffic on United States highway 666; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico highway 371 was constructed approximately twenty years ago and provided one of the most scenic drives through the Navajo Nation; and

WHEREAS, the Vietnam veterans memorial highway needs now to be resurfaced and widened and restored to the scenic highway it once was;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the state highway commission be requested to set the resurfacing and widening of New Mexico highway 371, the Vietnam veterans memorial highway, as a very high priority in its five-year plan of road projects to be completed; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the director of the Navajo department of transportation and to the chairman and members of the state highway commission.