Drivers should account for some extra time when traveling between Albuquerque and Santa Fe for the next few years as the transportation department works on a section of road near La Bajada.

“Depending on traffic, there will be some backups at times, and I think motorists can anticipate that,” Marisa Maez of the New Mexico Department of Transportation told KOB4 News. She said those traveling back and forth from Albuquerque to Santa Fe might need five extra minutes in either direction for their commute.

Southbound lanes have been moved closer to northbound lanes, and a section of road was re-striped.

"So that they can start work on that southbound side, it’s just kind of a crossover traffic pattern that we’re creating,” Maez told KOB4 News.

Crews are working on shoring up the ground under the road at La Bajada. The name of the area has a connection to the work that’s being done there.

"You know, the name of the road itself or that area means 'the descent,'" Maez said of La Bajada. "Because you’re on that large descent, we have to make sure that that slope will not kind of move out from under the road."

The project will continue through the fall of 2024. Crews are starting on the southbound side before crossing over the northbound side of the road. Maez said there will be two lanes of traffic on each side of the road at all times.