Santa Fe traffic to see impacts; route to Clovis will take rotor along I-40

SANTA FE – A 460, 000-pound rotor will be moving from Los Alamos National Laboratory to Clovis beginning at 9 a.m. Friday, potentially causing delays for drivers in Northern New Mexico, the Department of Transportation warned on Wednesday.  

From Clovis, the laboratory rotor-which is 69 feet long and 6 feet in diameter-will be transported via train to Richmond, Va. For repairs.

The rotor is non-military and contains no hazardous or radioactive materials. Construction on N.M. 599 will force the truck-and-trailer transport to pass through the city of Santa Fe late Friday morning.

The Department of Transportation has worked closely with the laboratory to plan and analyze the route.  Please see the attachment for a visualization of the route. 

Be advised: Santa Fe traffic will be impacted along St. Francis Drive, St. Michaels’s Drive and Old Pecos Trail. 

The transport could take as many as three days to arrive in Clovis.  A police escort will alert drivers to slow down.

The transport will travel between 25 to 40 miles per hour.  Motorists can expect delays if caught behind the transport and may want to seek an alternate route.

After repairs, the rotor will be transported back to Los Alamos by similar means at an as-yet-undetermined date and time.