# U.S. Route 70 in New Mexico

U.S. Route 70 (US 70) is a part of the U.S. Highway System that travels from Globe, Arizona, east to Atlantic, North Carolina. In the U.S. state of New Mexico, US 70 extends from the Arizona state line south of Virden and ends at the Texas state line in Texico.

## Route description

After entering the state of New Mexico, US 70 heads southeast. Five miles (8.0 km) after crossing the state line, it serves as the southern terminus for New Mexico State Road 92 (NM 92). US 70 does not have another highway junction for 21 miles (34 km), where it meets New Mexico State Road 464 (NM 464) and New Mexico State Road 90 (NM 90) three miles (4.8 km) north of Lordsburg. At Lordsburg, US 70 joins with Interstate 10 (I-10) eastbound, splitting off in Las Cruces, and becoming Picacho Avenue in Las Cruces. When Picacho Avenue meets Main Street, US 70 follows Main Street northbound. US 70 then crosses I-25, and has been upgraded at this point to a controlled-access highway until entering the foothills of the Organ Mountains.
As a divided highway, US 70 then crosses the Organ Mountains via San Augustin Pass descends to the valley floor of the Tularosa Basin, and next crosses the White Sands Missile Range. Overhead missile tests can close the highway for a few hours; this generally happens once or twice a week, and typically only for an hour at a time. The road then passes the entrance to White Sands National Park, and shortly after that passes the southern end of Holloman Air Force Base. It then turns northbound, and picks up a concurrency with US 54 upon entering Alamogordo. On the north end of Alamogordo, US 54/US 70 intersects the beginning of US 82 near La Luz. The concurrency with US 54 lasts until Tularosa, and the highway remains divided until US 70 and US 54 diverge. After splitting off to the northeast, US 70 begins an ascent into the Sacramento Mountains and enters the Lincoln National Forest. The road then runs across the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation and near the resort town of Ruidoso. In Hondo, it begins another concurrency, this time with US 380. US 70 then bypasses Roswell to the northwest, together with US 285. US 70 then heads off to the northeast, running through Portales and Clovis before entering Texas at Texico.

## History

When commissioned in 1926, ran from present day US 70 in Clovis, New Mexico through Vaughn, Willard all the way to Holbrook, Arizona. In 1932, US 70 was rerouted to El Paso, Texas, and the old routing was transferred to US 60 and US 260. In 1934, the routing of US 70 was changed again, to Las Cruces; the old route was transferred to US 54.
On July 12, 2021, US 70 between NASA Road and the entrance of White Sands Missile Range was closed to traffic. The night before, heavy rain from thunderstorms caused about 4 feet (1.2 m) of mud to close the 7-mile (11 km) section. The highway was reopened the next day.

## Junction list

| County | Location | mi | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
| Arizona state line | Arizona state line | 0.000 | 0.000 | | US 70 west – Duncan, Safford | Continuation into Arizona |
| Hidalgo | ​ | 4.200 | 6.759 | | NM 92 – Virden | |
| Hidalgo | ​ | 25.600 | 41.199 | | NM 464 – Redrock | |
| Hidalgo | ​ | 27.194 | 43.765 | | NM 90 – White Signal, Silver City | |
| Hidalgo | Lordsburg | 29.1842.067 | 46.9673.327 | | I-10 BL west (Historic US 80 west) to I-10 – Road Forks | Interchange; western end of I-10 Bus. concurrency; former US 80 west; mileposts change to reflect I-10 Bus. |
| Hidalgo | Lordsburg | 2.135 | 3.436 | | East Bound Trucks (NM 494 south) | Northern terminus of NM 494 |
| Hidalgo | Lordsburg | 4.370 | 7.033 | | I-10 BL ends / I-10 – Lordsburg | Eastern end of I-10 Bus. concurrency; western end of I-10 concurrency; I-10 exit 24 |
| See I-10 |||||||
| Doña Ana | ​ | 141.435 | 227.618 | | I-10 east (US 180 east) – Las Cruces, El Paso | Eastern end of I-10 and US 180 concurrencies; I-10 exit 135 |
| Bridge over the Rio Grande |||||||
| Doña Ana | Las Cruces | 147.246 | 236.969 | | NM 185 / NM 188 – Radium Springs, Mesilla | |
| Doña Ana | Las Cruces | 147.246 | 236.969 | | NM 478 south (Main Street) – Anthony | Northern terminus of NM 478; former US 80 east/US 85 south |
| Doña Ana | Las Cruces | 150.699– 150.706 | 242.527– 242.538 | — | I-25 (US 85) – El Paso, Albuquerque | Partial interchange; west end of freeway; I-25 exit 6 |
| Doña Ana | Las Cruces | 151.083 | 243.145 | — | Del Rey Boulevard / Telshor Boulevard | Direct eastbound exit and westbound entrance |
| Doña Ana | Las Cruces | 151.700 | 244.137 | — | Roadrunner Parkway | No direct eastbound entrance |
| Doña Ana | Las Cruces | 152.322 | 245.138 | — | Rinconada Boulevard | No direct westbound entrance |
| Doña Ana | Las Cruces | 153.103 | 246.395 | — | Sonoma Ranch Boulevard | |
| Doña Ana | Las Cruces | 154.716 | 248.991 | — | Mesa Grande Drive | |
| Doña Ana | Las Cruces | 155.792 | 250.723 | — | Porter Drive | |
| Doña Ana | Las Cruces | 156.870 | 252.458 | — | Holman Road / Dunn Drive | |
| Doña Ana | ​ | 158.493 | 255.070 | — | Weisner Road / Balsam Road | |
| Doña Ana | ​ | 160.122 | 257.691 | — | Brahman Road | |
| Doña Ana | Organ | 161.260 | 259.523 | — | NASA Road / Baylor Canyon Road | East end of freeway |
| Doña Ana | ​ | 169.946 | 273.502 | | Missile Range Headquarters / HTA | Interchange |
| Otero | Holloman AFB | 206.428 | 332.214 | | Holloman AFB Main Gate | Partial interchange |
| Otero | Alamogordo | 210.939 | 339.473 | | Airport Road - Alamogordo-White Sands Regional Airport | |
| Otero | Alamogordo | 212.789– 213.108 | 342.451– 342.964 | | US 54 south / White Sands Boulevard – El Paso, Alamogordo | Interchange; western end of US 54 concurrency; White Sands Boulevard not signed westbound |
| Otero | Alamogordo | 218.211 | 351.177 | | US 82 – Artesia, Lubbock | Western terminus of US 82 |
| Otero | ​ | 220.528 | 354.905 | | NM 545 – La Luz | |
| Otero | Tularosa | 228.271– 229.131 | 367.367– 368.751 | | US 54 north – Carrizozo | Eastern end of US 54 concurrency |
| Otero | Mescalero | 247.022 | 397.543 | | Eagle Drive – Hospital, Bureau of Indian Affairs | Interchange; serves Mescalero Indian Hospital |
| Otero | ​ | 251.486 | 404.727 | | NM 244 – Cloudcroft | |
| Lincoln | Ruidoso Downs | 261.260 | 420.457 | | NM 48 – Capitan | |
| Lincoln | Hondo | 285.031 | 458.713 | | US 380 – Capitan | Western end of US 380 concurrency |
| See US 380 |||||||
| Chaves | Roswell | 328.409 | 528.523 | | US 285 south (Main Street south) / US 380 east (2nd Street east) – Artesia, Brownfield | Eastern end of US 380 concurrency; western end of US 285 concurrency |
| Chaves | Roswell | 333.432 | 536.607 | | NM 246 – Capitan | |
| Chaves | Roswell | 335.533– 335.794 | 539.988– 540.408 | B | US 70 Truck west / US 285 Truck south (Relief Route) / US 285 north – Vaughn, Ruidoso | Interchange; eastern end of US 285 concurrency; exit number is for US 285; no exit number eastbound; US 70 Truck exit A |
| Roosevelt | Elida | 397.526 | 639.756 | | NM 114 / NM 330 – Dora, Floyd | |
| Roosevelt | ​ | 415.151 | 668.121 | | NM 480 | |
| Roosevelt | Portales | 417.161 | 671.356 | | Airport Road – Portales Municipal Airport | |
| Roosevelt | Portales | 421.447 | 678.253 | | NM 206 east (Avenue C) – Dora, Tatum | Western terminus of NM 206 |
| Roosevelt | Portales | 421.512 | 678.358 | | NM 267 west (Avenue B) – Floyd, Melrose | Eastern terminus of NM 267 |
| Roosevelt | Portales | 421.731 | 678.710 | | NM 88 east (Abilene Avenue) – Arch | Western terminus of NM 88 |
| Roosevelt | Portales | 423.173 | 681.031 | | To NM 236 / Spruce Street | |
| Roosevelt | Portales | 423.762 | 681.979 | | NM 467 – Clovis | |
| Roosevelt | ​ | 426.431 | 686.274 | | NM 202 | |
| Curry | Clovis | 439.823 | 707.827 | | US 60 / US 84 west (1st Street west) / NM 209 north (Prince Street) – Fort Sumner, Vaughn, Santa Rosa | Western end of US 60 and US 84 concurrencies |
| See US 60 |||||||
| Curry | Texico | 448.188 | 721.289 | | US 60 east (State Street) – Hereford | Eastern end of US 60 concurrency |
| Texas state line | Texas state line | 448.264 | 721.411 | | US 70 east / US 84 east – Farwell | Continuation into Farwell, Texas |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Incomplete access |||||||

## Roswell truck route

U.S. Route 70 Truck (US 70 Truck) runs for seven and a half miles (12.1 km) around the northwest side of Roswell. For its entire length, it is multiplexed with Roswell's Relief Route ( US 285 Truck).
The entire route is in Chaves County.
| Location | mi | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
| Roswell | 0.00 | 0.00 | | US 285 Truck south (Relief Route south) / US 70 / US 380 (2nd Street) – Artesia, Ruidoso, Roswell | Western terminus; western end of US 285 Truck concurrency; road continues south as US 285 Truck (Relief Route) |
| ​ | 5.0 | 8.0 | | NM 246 (Pine Lodge Road) – Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge | |
| ​ | 7.1 | 11.4 | A | US 70 west / US 285 south to US 380 junction – Clovis | Interchange; no exit number eastbound |
| ​ | 7.4– 7.5 | 11.9– 12.1 | | US 285 Truck end / US 70 east (Clovis Highway) / US 285 north | Interchange; eastern terminus; eastern end of US 285 Truck concurrency; northern terminus of US 285 Truck |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus ||||||