Highway double take: Albuquerque sign spelled without ‘R’

ALBUQUERQUE, N,M. (AP) — It made Route 66 and Interstate 40 drivers in New Mexico do double takes. An upgraded state Department of Transportation sign erected last week pointing drivers toward Albuquerque misspelled the city’s name, losing its“R.” A transportation department spokesperson says people called and sent emails about the mistake and the misspelling was fixed this week on the sign visible from both highways. The city’s name actually had two “Rs” in it after colonists in 1706 were granted permission by King Philip of Spain to establish the new community on the banks of the Rio Grande. What used to be Alburquerque lost the other “R” over the centuries.