The Metropolitan Planning Organization is looking into ways to address Santa Fe's high pedestrian death rate.
The Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) has adopted the Complete Streets Resolution to prevent accidents at some of the city’s deadliest intersections.
The group is comprised of members from Santa Fe, the New Mexico Department of Transportation and the Tesuque Pueblo.
Erick Anue of the MPO said some of those changes can be seen at the new roundabout near the Santa Fe Police Department.
“The new roundabout at Camino and Entrada includes extra-large sidewalks for just that reason to move people through that space safely,” Anue told KRQE.
Another intersection where the MPO wants to make improvements is along Airport, near South Meadows. According to KRQE, between 2010 and 2020, there were nearly 550 crashes along that stretch, five leaving pedestrians with injuries and seven involving cyclists.
The plan is to include a pedestrian hybrid beacon, which according to the study, can reduce pedestrian crashes by 55%. A 6-foot-wide bike lane is also envisioned. All of the projects are federal, state and locally funded.
“The Complete Streets Resolution really keys in on safe routes to school for youth and students in our community,” Anue said.
City Councilor Jamie Cassutt said the American Heart Association endorsed the resolution to encourage healthy forms of transportation like walking and biking.
“I think this work is some of the important work that we’re doing in our community,” Cassutt told KRQE. “Right now, we don’t have a transportation system. We don’t have the infrastructure that supports that type of mobility, so this work really focuses on how we build the infrastructure for the transportation system that we want and not the transportation system that we have.”
The MPO made it a goal to cut fatalities and serious injuries in half by 2020