Albuquerque's deadliest corridor gets a slew of safety upgrades for pedestrians

The city of Albuquerque on Thursday announced infrastructure upgrades aimed toward protecting those on foot on East Central — the city’s deadliest corridor for pedestrians.

Mayor Tim Keller, in a news conference at Eubank and Central, listed a slew of safety measures up and down the corridor. Many of those upgrades covered the 3-mile stretch between San Mateo and Eubank, a portion that has seen the largest cluster of deaths since 2017.

The planned improvements included hundreds of solar pedestrian lights, a re-striping of the lanes from six to four travel lanes and median fencing to “funnel pedestrians to safe crossing locations.”

The safety upgrades cost roughly $2 million, much of which was funded with money from speed camera fines, according to Department of Municipal Development spokesperson Dan Mayfield.

A recent report from the Governors Highway Safety Association found New Mexico had the highest pedestrian death rate in the country in 2024, for the eighth year in a row. Albuquerque accounted for almost 53% of the state’s pedestrian deaths last year.

The GHSA report also noted that New Mexico and the nation in general were showing improvement. Last year’s death toll represented a 13% drop from the 108 fatal crashes tallied in 2023.

Keller said citywide in 2025 pedestrian and cyclist crashes were down 55% from this same time in 2024.

Franchesca Perdue, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson, said five people have been fatally struck by drivers on East Central this year. By this time last year, the same corridor had seen 11 pedestrian fatalities.

Since 2018, at least 40 people have been killed on that segment of road.

“Like a lot of things in the city, we acknowledged the problem, and we’re trying to find real solutions that make a difference, and now we’re starting to see that difference,” Keller said.

In the last 45 days, APD Deputy Cecily Barker said officers have issued over 3,000 traffic citations, conducted 991 traffic stops and made 11 DWI arrests east of San Mateo on Central.

“We know that more lighting and better crossings makes it safer for pedestrians, but also for police officers who are out here making traffic stops,” Barker said. “We know that we have challenges on East Central, and we have met with directors and other city departments and entities to work on what will be best to make Central safe.”

Safety upgrades

Most of the safety upgrades were new, while some of those listed in a news release were in place already, including a repurposed wildlife signal to detect people.

Other planned improvements included two new HAWK — or high-intensity crosswalk — signals, re-striping Central east of Juan Tabo to narrow lanes, median refuge islands “and mid-block signals to warn drivers” when people cross and a speed limit reduced to 35 mph.

Perhaps the largest change is the re-striping to add business access and transit lanes, or BAT lanes, and reducing normal travel lanes from six to four.

“This actually creates a large lane buffer between the sidewalk for folks trying to cross the street,” Keller said. “... It also functions as that concept of a road diet which, in general, helps slow people down and not psychologically drive as fast on these long stretches of Central.”

The city will also install 200 solar-powered pedestrian safety lights to Central between Louisiana and Eubank. The lights illuminate the sidewalk and were installed sometime ago in parts of Nob Hill and west of Louisiana.

As Keller spoke, contractor group MWI began hoisting up the first of the solar lights to signal the beginning of the upgrades.

“I know this will be transformational for the corridor,” said Jennifer Turner, director of Municipal Development for the city. “These lights will be able to go in faster without connections to utilities and, if one goes out, the whole rest of the lights will stay because they are solar-powered.”

Nonfunctioning Albuquerque Rapid Transit lights, those for pedestrians and drivers, will also be repaired to “make our sidewalks safer and brighter,” Turner said.

In the middle of the news conference, a person jaywalked across the street, narrowly avoiding being hit by several drivers. Keller commented on the jaywalker, pointing out that with the safety upgrades, the man would only have to cross four lanes instead of six, something he emphasized was a “huge difference.”

While Keller reminded pedestrians to use crosswalks, he said that when they don’t, the problem was still reduced significantly. With the BAT lanes, the distance to cross the street doesn’t change, but the two outer lanes are reserved for buses, right turns and business access.

City Councilor Nichole Rogers took a moment to make a plea to those who cross the street where they shouldn’t.

“We can do all the changes to the built environment that we can, but we also need your help,” Rogers said. “We need you to use the crosswalks, use the HAWK lights, all of the things that also help lower pedestrian deaths.”