近距离内射合集

I grew up in Clovis. When we needed something we could not find locally, we went to Texas. Back-to-school shopping? Lubbock. Sam鈥檚 Club? Lubbock. An airport, more shopping, restaurants or something different to do? Lubbock or Amarillo.

For generations, eastern New Mexicans have crossed the state line to shop, eat, fly and spend money in Texas. One reason: Texas built better roads.

U.S. 84 from Clovis toward Lubbock is a four-lane divided highway. U.S. 60 toward Amarillo is also a four-lane divided highway. Both cities are roughly 100 miles away. Get on the highway, set the cruise control and, before you know it, you are there.

Head west toward the rest of New Mexico, and it is a different story.

The route from Clovis through Fort Sumner toward Santa Rosa and Interstate 40 remains largely a two-lane highway. Albuquerque is roughly 220 miles from Clovis, so geography will always make it a longer trip. But New Mexico has compounded that disadvantage by giving eastern New Mexicans an inferior road to their own state鈥檚 largest city.

I drove the route again during a recent weekend, and the problem was obvious. Traffic stacks up behind slower vehicles. Drivers become impatient. Cars speed up trying to pass, crossing into the opposing lane and racing to get around one vehicle, or several, before oncoming traffic arrives.

New Mexico should build a modern four-lane divided highway from Clovis through Fort Sumner to Interstate 40 at Santa Rosa. A highway designed for a 75 mph speed limit could fundamentally change the relationship between eastern New Mexico and the rest of the state. New Mexico cannot make Albuquerque closer to Clovis, but it can make the trip safer, faster and easier. A modern divided highway could put Albuquerque about three hours from Clovis.

That changes the calculation for families deciding where to shop, which airport to use, where to spend a weekend and where to seek services unavailable in smaller communities.

And Clovis is not alone.

Hobbs faces much the same problem. Eastern and southeastern New Mexico communities have strong economic ties to Texas, reinforced by the highways that connect them. Texas has invested in four-lane corridors leading toward the state line, while traveling west toward Albuquerque too often means relying on long stretches of two-lane highway.

The result is predictable: Infrastructure helps pull New Mexico families and New Mexico dollars east to Texas.

Albuquerque has what residents of rural New Mexico often leave home to find: a major airport, extensive shopping, specialized medical care, universities, restaurants, hotels, concerts, sporting events and entertainment.

However, the economic opportunity runs both directions.

Texans love New Mexico. They come here for our mountains, skiing, cool summer weather, outdoor recreation, culture and scenery. Communities such as Ruidoso, Santa Fe, Red River, Taos and Angel Fire already draw visitors from West Texas. Better highways would make it easier for Texas families to travel west and spend their money here.

Infrastructure influences behavior. Texas understood that. It built four-lane highways connecting its cities to eastern New Mexico, and people and money followed.

New Mexico should do the same.

A four-lane divided highway from Clovis to Interstate 40 would be safer, strengthen the connection between eastern New Mexico and Albuquerque, help keep more New Mexico dollars in our state and make it easier for Texas visitors to travel farther into New Mexico.

New Mexico cannot change the map. But it can build a better road. Texas built the highways that carry people and money east. It is time for New Mexico to build one that brings them west.

Jared Vander Dussen is a partner attorney at Western Agriculture, Resource and Business Advocates, LLP in Albuquerque. He grew up in Clovis.