Slaughter Alley

  Slaughter Alley is the morbid name that was given to the easternmost stretch of highway 66 in New Mexico. The 40 mile stretch of the highway between Tucumcari and the Texas border (going through San Jon), was probably the most dangerous stretch of the entire 2,448 mile highway. This stretch of the highway was poorly maintained and was known for its potholes and deep ruts that had been worn into the pavement by years of heavy traffic. It was also extremely narrow, barely wide enough for two cars. There was no shoulder to speak of and, in many places, there wasn't even a center stripe! It seems as if the road crews ignored the stretch of highway 66 between Tucumcari and Glenrio because I have read accounts in which travelers who were traveling east on the highway said that the highway was in good to fair condition west of Tucumcari and then, at the Texas border, it was in fantastic condition, but the 40 miles in between were terrible and poorly maintained. There was a saying back in the day that said "only six inches and cigarette paper separate you from death on 66." This saying could certainly apply to other stretches of the fabled highway, but it originally applied to this stretch. This is the stretch of the highway that had the most collisions, many of them head-on collisions.
  It is ironic that the last stretch of Interstate 40 to be built in New Mexico coincides with this same 40 mile stretch between Tucumcari and the Texas border. After the interstate opened, piece by piece, this stretch remained unbuilt, partly because of intense lobbying efforts by residents of
San Jon and Tucumcari not to have their towns bypassed. There were other reasons as well for this delay. There is just something about this stretch of New Mexico that seems to cause highway crews to neglect the roads. Route 66 had been improved in its waning years of existence, but it was still below the standards of other federal, and even state highways, until its decommisioning, in this area, in 1982. The lobbying efforts of the residents of this area resulted in the fact that, for at least a half dozen years, the freeway ended on the western edge of town and all traffic was forced to get onto highway 66 to go through town and continue to stay on highway 66 until the eastern edge of
San Jon, where traffic could get back onto the freeway, a distance of 21 miles. But other stretches of Interstate 40 in this area were also built later than other stretches of the freeway. This was still a narrow, dangerous, two-lane road until the mid 1970s.
  Today, even though Interstate 40 between Tucumcari and the Texas border is well-maintained, it still is in poorer condition than it is on either side of this 40 mile stretch.  Not sure what it is about this area.