Good points.
I can’t remember the details on how and why it was improved, but Hwy 550 from Farmington to Bernalillo (I-25) used to be terrible like you describe Hwy 285. San Juan County is basically a conservative oasis in northern NM and I’ve been told that it took a Republican Governor to get it widened into a 4 lane.
I grew up in Rio Arriba County and the Democrat dominated politics has only gotten worse.
When 550 was renovated, the feds
we’re mining uranium in the Farmington
area. The road was widened for the
same reason as 285 was widened between
Clines Corners to Carlsbad. They were
transporting uranium materials.