HOUSE MEMORIAL 49

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2020

INTRODUCED BY

Jack Chatfield

 

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT UNITED STATES HIGHWAYS 64 AND 87 FROM RATON TO CLAYTON TO THE NEW MEXICO-TEXAS STATE LINE, A PORTION OF THE PORTS-TO-PLAINS CORRIDOR ON THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY SYSTEM, BE DESIGNATED AS A FUTURE FEDERAL INTERSTATE HIGHWAY.

 

     WHEREAS, in 1998, the ports-to-plains corridor was granted federal designation by congress as a high-priority corridor in the national highway system from Laredo, Texas, to Denver, Colorado, via federal interstate highway 27, and in New Mexico generally following United States highways 64 and 87 from Raton to the New Mexico-Texas state line; and

     WHEREAS, the ever-increasing importance of global trade, especially between the United States, Mexico and Canada, illustrates the significant need for more north-south routes to connect technology products, energy and food with the greater marketplace; and

     WHEREAS, rural multistate highway corridors such as the ports-to-plains corridor are important to the nation's economy, defense and mobility, and they help in the delivery of the food, fuel and fiber, as well as the movement of tourists, that secures the quality of life of America's great cities and urban areas; and

     WHEREAS, with more than one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) in exports to Mexico, New Mexico's proximity to El Paso-Juarez is beneficial, but for the fourth consecutive year, the number one exporting port in the United States is Laredo, Texas, with forty billion three hundred million dollars ($40,300,000,000) in exports; and

     WHEREAS, the ports-to-plains corridor is important to energy and agricultural production, international trade and economic development in the region and provides cost-effective congestion relief for two gridlocked federal interstate highways, interstate 25 in Colorado and interstate 35 in Texas; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico will always be recognized for its progressive initiative as the first state in the ports-to- plains alliance to finish the entire four-lane highway within its borders, from Raton to the New Mexico-Texas state line on United States highways 64 and 87, at a cost of more than one hundred thirty-eight million dollars ($138,000,000); and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico would greatly benefit from a designated interstate connecting its exports to the busiest port in the country; and

     WHEREAS, designation as a future interstate, while creating a vision for the future, does not create any specific time lines for states to construct the interstate highway;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it request the United States congress to designate that portion of the ports-to-plains corridor, United States highways 64 and 87 between Raton, New Mexico, and the New Mexico-Texas state line, as a future federal interstate highway; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the president of the United States, the federal secretary of transportation, members of New Mexico's congressional delegation, the governors of New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas and the New Mexico secretary of transportation.

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