Walk the line: Readers express concerns over crosswalks

Earlier this month, the city of Albuquerque kick-started a new traffic campaign geared toward improving bicyclist and pedestrian safety on crosswalks while the governor signed into law a bill requiring student drivers to take a three-hour course on these “vulnerable road users.”

While many people applauded these efforts, others have expressed concerns.

“My God, what are we supposed to do?” reader Ben Sandoval asked. “Are we supposed to drive in a helicopter around town?”

Sandoval said too many bicyclists and pedestrians do not pay attention, especially on Central Avenue.

“If you don’t want to get killed, don’t stop out (on) a crosswalk,” Sandoval said.

Other readers, like Nora Kelly, said they are confused about what people should do at a crosswalk.

“I’d love some crosswalk clarity,” Kelly said. “In some states, you simply walk to the side of the road at a crosswalk and it stops traffic. In other states, crosswalks are just lines painted on the asphalt, at least in practice. You wait until traffic clears all on its own, if you’ve got any sense.”

What is a crosswalk?

According to state statute 66-1-4.3, a crosswalk, in part, is “any portion of a roadway at an intersection or elsewhere distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines or other markings on the surface.”

“What is important to note here, is that there does not need to be paint … on a roadway to be a crosswalk,” said Shannon Glendenning, New Mexico Department of Transportation traffic safety division director. “There are marked and unmarked crosswalks and both are legal. Depending on the situation and safety concerns, NMDOT and tribal and local public agencies may mark an intersection as closed to crossings for pedestrians.”

Then there is New Mexico statute 66-7-334, which states: “When traffic control signals are not in place or not in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right of way, slowing down or stopping if need be … (for) a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is in the crosswalk.”

Additionally, “a pedestrian shall not suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle that is so close that it is impossible for the driver to yield.”

And finally, 66-7-334 states: “Whenever a vehicle is stopped at a marked crosswalk or at an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection to permit a pedestrian to cross the roadway, the driver of another vehicle approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass the stopped vehicle.”

In 2024, New Mexico State University released crosswalk guidelines for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists. For example, bicyclists, according to NMSU, should “use extra caution as you transition between bike paths, roads and sidewalks. Be aware that your actions are unpredictable to drivers and pedestrians.”

Regardless of who is right at a crosswalk, Glendenning pointed out, statute 66-7-337 states that drivers must “exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian upon any roadway and shall give warning by sounding the horn when necessary and shall exercise proper precaution upon observing any child or any confused or incapacitated person upon a roadway.”

These statutes and suggestions are fine and dandy, but what has been done to address bicyclist and pedestrian safety, especially at crosswalks?

In 2021, Glendenning said, New Mexico adopted the New Mexico Pedestrian Safety Action Plan, which recommended NMDOT identify 10 locations to install pedestrian hybrid beacon signals (often called a High-Intensity Activated Crosswalk signal) on state roads.

“NMDOT has made progress on this action, including (the) installation of PHBs in Hobbs and Lovington,” she said.

NMDOT has also been developing an active transportation plan, she said, “to address the safety of vulnerable road users by utilizing an all ages and abilities approach to the design and placement of infrastructure for walking, biking, and rolling.”

“The ATP will include guidance on crossings for vulnerable road users,” Glendenning said.

She said public meetings on the plan are scheduled for the fall. 

Perhaps one thing that will be addressed is the impact from the Idaho Stop law, which went into effect in New Mexico last July. This allows bicyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs and red lights as stop signs.

“This change recognizes the differences between bicycles and cars at intersections and allows cyclists to navigate safely and predictably,” NMDOT Active Transportation Planner Elsa Goossen said in a news release.

Months after Idaho Stop began, the city of Albuquerque adopted an ordinance requiring drivers to stop at crosswalks in an attempt to better protect bicyclists and pedestrians. It also announced it was installing a push-button signal and crosswalk at the Hahn Arroyo where Kayla VanLandingham, 19, was killed while riding home on her bicycle on July 22.

And a couple of weeks ago, Duke City launched a traffic safety campaign focusing on crosswalks.

This initiative came on the heels of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signing into law Senate Bill 73, which requires student drivers to take at least three hours of training on “vulnerable road users” like bicyclists and pedestrians.

But the signing of SB 73, which takes effect in January, will not likely signal the end of the discussion on “vulnerable road users.”

“I encourage the Legislature to attack this problem more comprehensively next session, as it is a matter of life and death,” Lujan Grisham said in a bill message to the Senate. “Future legislation could include more requirements around renewing a license, raising the minimum age of those eligible to receive a license, or harsher penalties around distracted or reckless driving. There are many possibilities.”

I-25 OFF-RAMP CLOSURE: On a final and unrelated note, crews will begin work on a new northbound Interstate 25 off-ramp as part of the I-25 improvement project.

The work will result in a three-week, 24/7 closure of the northbound I-25 Montgomery Boulevard off-ramp that was scheduled to begin Sunday night.

Drivers, who will be rerouted via the Jefferson Street interchange, “should anticipate heavy traffic delays, plan ahead, and follow posted signage,” according to I-25 Improved.

The project began in August 2024 and is expected to be completed in spring 2027.

Be safe out there.

Gregory R.C. Hasman is a general assignment reporter and the Road Warrior. He can be reached at ghasman@abqjournal.com or 505-823-3820.