Posted on 03/04/2019 2:06:52 PM PST by CedarDave
“The traffic has increased so greatly,” said Steve McCroskey, Eddy County planner, 48, a 1989 graduate of Carlsbad High. “If we had this much traffic when we were cruising (in high school), I don’t think any kid would have gotten home without a wreck.”
John Waters, executive director of the Carlsbad Department of Development, said about 43,000 vehicles pass through this intersection each day and that the population in a 20-mile radius of Carlsbad has gone from 42,000 in 2010 to an estimated 75,000 today.
Those numbers are attributable to a boom in oil and gas business that started in late 2016 and isn’t expected to let up soon.
“There is universal agreement that the Permian (Basin in New Mexico and Texas) will continue to grow in production,” said Robert McEntyre, spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association. “There are vast amounts of untapped (resources.) We are going to be busy for a long time.”
Since roads in Eddy and Lea counties are the ones taking a pounding from big rigs hauling oil, water, dirt and fracking sand and towns such as Carlsbad and Jal in southern Lea County are the places choked up with oil and gas industry traffic, many feel most of that road-improvement money should be spent in those counties.
Tax revenue from the accelerated oil and gas business has resulted in a state budget surplus, and New Mexico is looking at putting $300 million to $400 million of that windfall into statewide road projects.
“We’ve got an unprecedented amount of money to spend,” said State Rep. Larry Scott, R-Hobbs, himself a long-time oil man. “I think this state Legislature should recognize that we should provide money to this area which is providing all the milk and honey up here.”
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
“As far as the laws in Texas and what I deserve from them, I would say, no state tax, low property tax, a robust economy with unlimited growth, an abundance of jobs to choose from aren’t such bad things”.
You support those good things by various means and you certainly deserve them.
Thanks for the explanation.
I had a job in the oil patch in the Fort Stockton area in November. I drove NM-18 then TX-18 south of state line in Texas. The road south of Jal, NM is abysmal on both sides of the border, especially from Jal to Kermit, TX. Single lane, full of deep potholes, traveled by very heavy semis, etc. Because we were short a pickup due to a collision with a deer, I needed to take my personal pickup. On the road, especially after dark, you can not see potholes and can’t avoid them due to heavy, continual traffic and lack of shoulders. When the job was over, I went to have a wheel alignment and found front end rods were bent. And I had a cracked windshield due to trucks traveling at 70 mph throwing up rocks from the potholes. Of course, all repairs were charged to the company.
I’ve lived in Texas. It was a job
that brought me there. What the
state has to offer is good except for
the. rain, humidity, and it’s backwards
gun laws.
During my travels back and forth on
285 I’ve lost 4 windshields. I had
one big rock come thru, and land in
the passenger seat. I saw the rock
stuck between the duals before it
flew out. I’ve also witnessed several
bad accidents. Mostly from impatient
drivers trying to pass the big rigs.
I know full well what you experienced.
You’re welcome. Yep, I’ve lived here
for most of my 63 years.
Lap, do you live in New Mexico?
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