Singing Road air date

New Mexico Department of Transportation
December 18, 2014

Good morning,

I have an update for you on New Mexico’s Singing Road. It will be shown on the National Geographic Channel next Monday, December 22 at 4:00 p.m. MT (6 p.m. ET).

The Singing Road was created for a production company for the series Crowd Control which airs on Nat Geo.

The company (Tigress Productions) contacted the New Mexico Department of Transportation in June and asked if we would be interested in the project. We thought it would be a unique way to promote New Mexico as well as traffic safety. The department did not pay a dime for the project. It was paid for entirely by the production company to San Bar Construction which created the Singing Road in late September.

The 1,300 foot strip of road on Route 66 has rumble strips imbedded in the pavement, each representing a musical note. When motorists drive over the strip at the posted speed limit of 45 mph, vibrations in their vehicle’s chassis play America the Beautiful. The purpose for the road was an experiment by the show to see if drivers would obey the speed limit if they were given a reward.

The Singing Road is located on Route 66 heading east between Albuquerque and Tijeras (approximately a quarter of a mile west of Tijeras).

New Mexico’s Singing Road is among only several in the world and is the second to be built in the U.S.

Photos of the project can be found at: http://files.natgeonetworks.com/_a9dHcoL9t1SEwR

A clip of the episode can be found at: http://files.natgeonetworks.com/_JDfUAkEM-14EbR

** Cleared for broadcast or online.

Melissa Dosher
Public Information Officer
New Mexico Department of Transportation
(505) 827-5526 (office)
(505) 469-5698 (cell)
melissa.dosher@state.nm.us