Freeway Interchange Tour, "Big I" Interchange, Albuquerque, NM

[miamivicepastels83]

they have an interesting way of holding the signs up....(those curved posts)...never seen those before

[noah14744]

Thumbs up if you think this is the best interchange!

[noah14744]

These roads are asphalt and I love how it looks. Concrete is too bumpy and uncomfortable. I heard that bad made concrete freeways is bad for a car because something important can fall off the car. Good job NMDOT!

[Fishtacoify]

I seen these areas because I'm from New Mexico.

[KpopPPP1]

I SEE THE DESSERT, IM CUMIN OVER 

[ABQCVB]

Great look at the Big I, one of the best things about Albuquerque in part due to this interchange is you are always about 10-20 minutes away from everywhere in the city.

[FreewayBrent]

@ABQCVB:  Very true, indeed! NMDOT did a wonderful job at reconstructing the Big I; it is not only efficient in handling the high traffic volumes, but it is also one of the most aesthetically pleasing an unique looking interchanges in the country. Also love how the interchange is lit up at night in a rotating display of neon colors. Thanks for watching!

[Noticias23NBoca]

I love watching your videos man.!

[FreewayBrent]

@Noticias23NBoca: Hey, thanks! I've never seen your YouTube name before; I take it that you just subscribed recently?

[Logster21]

@Noticias23NBoca same here.

[jaarmen3]

Great video, Brent. I love driving through Albuquerque. I haven't been there since 2007. Thanks for posting this vid.

[FreewayBrent]

@jaarmen3: Yes, I agree; the urban landscape and heavy traffic along both I-25 and I-40 is actually a refreshing change of pace, after hundreds of miles of isolation in all 4 directions.

[LucidRealityChild]

I been through NM on a greyhound bus but don't think we went through Alburquerque. Where I was was mostly dessert and hot as hell.

[FreewayBrent]

@LucidRealityChild: You probably saw Interstate 10, which is not all that interesting thru the state of New Mexico, at least in my humble opinion.

[B190489]

1:05 love this truck

[USRoads]

I think the next big interchange to get redone in this area is I-25/Paseo Del Norte, yes .....?

[FreewayBrent]

@USRoads: Depends on funding, I think. I just saw a video of the proposed redesign; it's probably going to rank as one of the most impressive freeway-to-surface boulevard interchanges in the country, when it's all said and done.

[Jacob1986]

seems like Toronto needs to learn from Albuquerque, our traffic is horrible (401/404 interchange)

[FreewayBrent]

@Jacob1986: Oh yeah, I spent a good amount of time, stuck thru the 401/404 interchange. But hey, you guys do also have that sprawling monster that's also known as the 401/403/410 interchange, too. :)

[Jacob1986]

@FreewayBrent

It's very rare to see the 401/404 interchange to be congestion free. Whoever designed it or thinks it's adequate should be shot. I agree he 401/403/410 is a monster, that part of the city is really well done. I really like your videos , very well done. Do you do alot of traveling for work? and what kind of camera do you use?

[FreewayTitan]

Excellent video. I like the cleanliness and design of Albuquerque Freeways and roads in general, enough to put them towards the top of the list for me in the Western US.

[edgexxi]

Nice work Brent, I remember the old Big I, BIG improvement! Safe travels my friend.

[FreewayBrent]

@edgexxi: I never did get a chance to drive the old interchange. You wouldn't happen to know where I could find some old pictures of it, by any chance?

Thanks for watching!

[IsoscelesKramer]

Excellent work! I liked seeing the mountains in the distance so often. Do you plan on doing any street tours of ABQ?

[FreewayBrent]

@IsoscelesKramer: Man, I totally regret not making the effort to record the most interesting parts of ABQ. I was only in town for about 18 hours (mainly to sleep, and then I woke up late and recorded the 2 freeways thru town). ABQ is pretty interesting, if you know where to look (mainly along Central Avenue, there is Nob Hill, the University District and Downtown, all lively areas with character).

[IsoscelesKramer]

@FreewayBrent: Yeah, those are all places I hope to check out someday. Thanks!

[superdevins]

I came across this interchange in 03, 05, and 08 on my way to California. it's pretty cool the outside of the Guardrails are blue. and the res are like clay color.

[FreewayBrent]

@superdevins: Yes! The choice of colors that the New Mexico Dept. of Transportation chose for the flyovers and ramps, really gives the "Big I" a nice aesthetic look.

[SuperBadgurl9]

great vid and i like tiesto alot...

[aswchris]

Top-notch video. One of my favorite interchanges in the U.S., very aesthetic.

[eluko79]

Well done Brent. Ive always liked the style NM puts into its infrastructure.

Great video and nice soundtrack too.

[downlow228]

Sick beats...as usual.

[FreewayBrent]

@downlow228: Tiesto is da ish!

[ConnorAlves]

Thank you for this video! I live in ABQ.

[FreewayBrent]

@ConnorAlves: No problem at all! Feel free to share it with all of your friends and family who live in ABQ.

[XxlivinwithitxX]

Is this supposed to be impressive? Lol sorry. Long time Houston native (:

[FreewayBrent]

@XxlivinwithitxX: Haha, I feel ya. Yeah, Houston has some ridiculous-sized stacks. What I really like about the "Big I", however, is the unique colors chosen, and there's literally no other stacks like it, for hundreds of miles in all directions. In fact, it's far and away the most sprawling interchange along the entire 2,555 mile length of Interstate 40.

Thanks for watching. :-)

[XxlivinwithitxX]

@FreewayBrent You're welcome and I will continue to :) New Mexico only has 2 interstate interchanges (The other being the 10 and 25 interchange in Las Cruces) so at least the ones they have look amazing. And haha I'll take your word on that, I have never drove on I-40 before. (:

[haljackey]

That's a really nice interchange! I wish they built stuff like that around here... Our clover-something-like junctions are way over capacity and are beginning to crumble lol.

Although I'm not a fan of seeing all this growth in New Mexico. Deserts are one of the most unsustainable locations for cities, and seeing them grow this much is startling. For example, they'll be facing a massive water crisis in a matter of years.

[FreewayBrent]

@haljackey: I do find it to be a tad bit odd that Ontario invests so heavily on super-wide freeways, but has a relative lack of stack interchanges to accommodate both the large number of lanes and the high traffic volumes.

I'm not exactly sure where ABQ gets its water from. The local mountains do get a pretty heavy dose of both snow and rain during the winter months; perhaps the city gets a large amount of runoff from the local Sandia Mountain range. Perhaps someone from ABQ can answer.

[haljackey]

@FreewayBrent Well Albuquerque might be fine for the time being due to it's size and location, but I'm mostly talking about other desert cities like Las Vegas and Pheonix. In fact, they're growing like mad all around the world as well.

[atworkstation]

@FreewayBrent It's a lot larger than the infamous "Malfunction Junction" in Birmingham, AL.

[FreewayBrent]

@atworkstation: Did FreewayJim feature the "Malfunction Junction" in his Birmingham freeway tour video??

[atworkstation]

@FreewayBrent Actually Bryant5493 has the malfucntion junction video.

[Freewayjim]

Excellent work, definitely a unique interchange, really enjoyed the tour of it

[FreewayBrent]

@Freewayjim: Yeah, driving thru the "Big I" never gets old for me. There's certainly nothing else like it along I-40, and I can't think of another stack interchange with the painted colors that you see at the "Big I." It's even better at night, when the entire interchange is lit up in rotating neon colors.

[ScrewdUPClickV2]

in all honesty we cant ever compare interchange vs interchange . but what we can conclude is that NM has done a excellent job here constructing a interchange that is very rare. In construction of A 5 level stack interchange is very rare, and is something that most never get to see or drive on. and this happens to be located in a state that population is very low , im sure tax purposes set this state back a pretty penny constructing this magnificant interchange. enough said , excellent tour

[nickgeorge25]

Great video Brent!!  Interchanges are arguably one of the more interesting aspects of highways, so you've got a good concept!

[FreewayBrent]

@nickgeorge25: I'm definitely not the first to showcase an interchange tour, but this is definitely the first of its kind of the "Big I." Thanks for the feedback.

[ScrewdUPClickV2]

here is joke between me and you .. you knocked out 2 birds with one stone right 

[FreewayBrent]

@ScrewdUPClickV2: Haha, yes. I'm glad the owners of the place that I "knocked out 2 birds w/one stone" didn't know, though.

[ScrewdUPClickV2]

Something you defantly see in my home state . awesome work , and thanks for the tour of the 5 i