Albuquerque's Mayor Tim Keller, Police Chief Harold Medina, and Municipal Development Director Pat Montoya recently addressed the media to discuss the city's proactive efforts in reducing pedestrian fatal crashes along Central Avenue. Mayor Keller emphasized the importance of these actions, stating, "Tragedy is occurring far too often on our streets in the form of fatal collisions that could be avoided."
Chief Harold Medina highlighted the impact of pedestrian crashes, noting that they are often avoidable and have traumatic consequences for both victims and drivers. He expressed the city's commitment to decreasing such outcomes as much as possible.
The city's Vision Zero program, implemented in 2019, aims to reduce fatalities on Albuquerque's streets through data-driven approaches and roadway improvements. Valerie Hermanson, Vision Zero Coordinator for the City of Albuquerque, explained, "Our data shows that a significant stretch of East Central needs help. With APD’s help we hope to see a significant reduction in serious crashes in that area, and across the city."
As part of the city's efforts, various pedestrian safety features have been installed along Central Avenue, including additional pedestrian signals, the Pedestrian Activated Warning System (PAWS) lights, restriping of lanes, median refuge islands, and mid-block signals. Director of the Department of Municipal Development, Patrick Montoya, commended the city's traffic engineers for these improvements, stating, "Albuquerque streets are getting needed improvements thanks to our traffic engineers. Innovative projects like our P.A.W.S. lights will make sure they’re even safer for everyone on the roadway."
The Albuquerque Police Department's Traffic Team has been actively enforcing pedestrian safety measures, including addressing jaywalking and other traffic violations. Since the beginning of 2024, there have been 14 crashes involving pedestrians that resulted in fatalities or great bodily harm, prompting increased enforcement efforts along Central Avenue.
Through collaborative efforts between city officials, law enforcement, and traffic engineers, Albuquerque is striving to create safer streets and reduce the number of pedestrian fatal crashes.
