U.S. 491 work begins:
Tribe, state break ground on long-awaited widening
A groundbreaking ceremony was held along a two-lane section of U.S. 491 Thursday morning near the 16 mile marker. The ceremony marked the start of the widening project of the highway to four lanes. New Mexico Department of Transportation Secretary Rhonda Faught noted that many tractor-trailers traveling on the road are a "huge safety issue" for the department. According to a news release from NMDOT, the project is expected to atart in July 2008. [photo by Daniel Zollinger / Independent]

By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

TOHATCHI — Preparations began for the construction to widen U.S. Highway 491 to four lanes on Thursday as a traditional ceremony was held to bless the road beginning at the Navajo 9 intersection near mile post 16.

Walking north with state and tribal leaders following, Paul Long Sr. sang a traveling song and blessed the road with cornmeal for cleansing. He also blessed the shovels used in the groundbreaking with yellow corn.

Long made four additional stops along the highway where the improvements are to be made to perform the traditional ceremony.

Tohatchi Chapter President Larson Manuelito explained that the prayer was being done to bless the road.

“Prayers are to do away with the mishaps — whatever happened on this road ... Use the corn pollen to go in the Hozhooni way, the harmonious way, the good way,” he said.
Leonard Tsosie, former state senator and now a Navajo Nation Council delegate, also said that roads are sacred to the Navajo people.

“Navajo people have a road song. We believe in good roads. We believe in the sacredness of roads because it connects you to other people. It connects communities,” Tsosie said.

Residents and travelers have waited decades for the widening to become a reality. John McElroy, District 5 engineer with New Mexico Department of Transportation, said that construction to widen the highway should start around the first of July at mile marker 84.

GRIP public information officer Megan Arrendondo said that repaving of about 30 miles of the southern part of the road started on May 5 and should take about three months to complete. She said that the larger project to widen the road from Tohatchi to Shiprock should take more than a year after it begins.

State Sen. John Pinto, who spent 15 years advocating for the widening of the road, was jubilant at the groundbreaking.

“After those years, the effort is finally paying off,” he said.

The New Mexico portion of the road, which is a major highway for the northwestern part of the state, is known for a high rate of accidents and deaths as a result. The name of the highway was changed from U.S. 666 to U.S. 491 in 2003 because of the stigma associated with the number 666 as “the number of the beast” in the Bible.

“We actually came out here and we kicked the devil out of New Mexico,” State Transportation Secretary Rhonda Faught said. “But today we are really going to kick him out of here because we’re starting the improvements for a highway that is going to be safe for everyone that travels on it and we’re going to kick that devil right out of here.”

Many speakers said that the project has become a reality due to the government-to-government relationship between two sovereigns.

“I want you to know that this is not just setting an example for New Mexico but this is a national issue right now. All eyes across this country are looking to us today about our partnership and about our government-to-government relationship,” Faught said.

The community of Sanostee also celebrated the groundbreaking for construction with a ceremony of its own on U.S. 491 near Navajo 34.