ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Albuquerque has an action plan to fix dangerous roads and keep deadly crashes from happening. Now, a few years into that Vision Zero plan, is it working?
The City just published a “year-in-review” report on its Vision Zero traffic safety plan. It indicates there’s a lot of work to be done and not much money to do it.
“Everyone deserves to get to work, to get to school, to get to wherever they are going safely,” said Dan Mayfield with the Municipal Development Department.
Two years in, Albuquerque’s Vision Zero effort aims to cut roadway deaths in a city with some of the highest crash rates in the country. In 2021, 364 people were either seriously injured or killed in Albuquerque crashes.
A new report highlighted the city’s Vision Zero efforts. The city claims one of those efforts is speed cameras along hot spot areas like Montgomery, Gibson, and Central.
“We’re seeing traffic slowing down with those ASE cameras, and it’s been a major help in slowing down traffic across Albuquerque,” said Mayfield.
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The City’s also painted nearly nine miles of buffered bike lanes, upgraded or added nearly 50 cross walks and they’ve narrowed miles of road aimed at slowing drivers down.
“We are seeing a reduction in injuries and fatal injuries across the city. We are happy about that,” added Mayfield.
Representing Uptown, City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn said she’s used to seeing many road dangers in her district including problems with street racing and pedestrian crosswalks that need attention.
“It’s certainly my hope that as we move forward with more of these Vision Zero projects, we’ll see quite a few projects in District 7,” said Fiebelkorn.
While Fiebelkorn supports the work of Vision Zero, she also agrees with the City’s new assessment. The report admits they don’t have enough staff or funding.
“I think we need additional funding and additional focus to make sure that we push it as far as we need to in the future,” mentioned Fiebelkorn.
The City also credits Vision Zero for centralizing an understanding as to where and how Albuquerque can fix street safety issues. There are four new roundabouts the city is planning, along with 22 miles of bike and multi-use trails. The report will be introduced in City Council on Monday.
See the plan here.
