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'This needs to be a priority': BernCo working on project to improve traffic safety off Coors between Gun Club and Blake
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South Valley residents said it is about time for traffic safety improvements to be made on Coors between Gun Club and Blake roads.
鈥淭his needs to be the priority,鈥� said resident Melissa Padilla, one of a couple of dozen of people to attend Thursday鈥檚 open house inside the South Valley Academy gym.
Bernalillo County is in the design phase of a project that would narrow car lanes, raise medians, add lighting, install HAWK (high-intensity activated crosswalk) signals, multi-trail lanes and concrete curbs to protect those lanes.
鈥�(The changes are) not going to stop every speeder, right? You just can鈥檛 engineer around it,鈥� WSB project manager Danny Sims said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 going to help.鈥�
Resident Yolanda Montoya-Cordova told Sims, 鈥淚鈥檓 a walker and I don鈥檛 even walk in my neighborhood.
鈥淚 drive away from my neighborhood to (go for) a safe walk,鈥� she said.
Since 2015, between Gun Club and Blake, 鈥渁t least鈥� 18 people have been killed while 17 others were seriously injured due to crashes. In total, there have been 1,209 crashes along the corridor during that time, Bernalillo County spokesperson Melissa Smith said in a Sept. 8 news release.
The Gun Club to Blake stretch is one of the most dangerous in the South Valley, Smith said.
鈥淭he corridor is extremely dangerous and we have so many children from the academy that cross it,鈥� resident Melissa Padilla said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we鈥檙e here. We鈥檙e gonna fight for our little corner of the South Valley.鈥�
The design phase is 30% complete and is slated to be finished in the spring, Sims said. Construction should begin in the fall or winter of 2026 and take about a year to complete, said Lelia Momenzadeh, Bernalillo County senior project manager.
The county received $8 million in federal grant funding for the project. Of which, $4.3 million is going toward construction, Momenzadeh said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to do this stuff now before we wait five or six or whatever years to have 18 more deaths,鈥� Senate Majority Whip Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, said.
While people like longtime traffic safety advocate Scot Key said the project 鈥渁ppears to be an excellent start,鈥� others such as county technical planning manager Richard Meadows said more can be done.
鈥淚 know people don鈥檛 like the speed cameras, but I think that鈥檚 a major deterrent, and maybe we should be considering that on Coors,鈥� Meadows said.
Padilla said there should also be increased law enforcement presence in the area 鈥渂ecause this is extremely dangerous.鈥�
Bernalillo County District 2 Commissioner Frank Baca said at an upcoming commissioners meeting a resolution will be introduced to develop a task force to look at what is being done across the country to deter speeding.
鈥淭here has to be some innovation, some technology, some options that are available throughout the country,鈥� he said.
Smith said people can fill out an sharing their thoughts on the project. The deadline is Oct. 12.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e hoping to do is hear from people that live, work, use this corridor,鈥� Sims said. 鈥淗ow are you using it? ... Help us prioritize where the money should be spent first.鈥�
