ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A bustling, four-way stop on Albuquerque’s West Side that some drivers call dangerous is now ready to go with big improvements that the city said should be safer for everyone on the road.
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“I’m thrilled. I’m sure my neighborhood is thrilled. I’m sure the businesses are thrilled,” said Sam Holdren, a nearby neighbor.
Holdren drives through 98th and Gibson Blvd. a lot and is among the neighbors who said that the intersection already feels safer. “We’ve seen so many accidents here. So many accidents. Some of them are bad. Now, the chances of that happening in the future are going to go down dramatically,” added Holdren.
After months of work, the city said the westside intersection is not just smoother for people on the road, but also something they hope will cut down on crashes. The city finished upgrades last week, replacing stop signs with traffic lights they turned on Monday.
“It was a four-way stop. Complicated because it’s not just a single lane coming to each part of the intersection. It’s four lanes with a turn lane, four lanes with a turn lane from every direction which adds complications,” said Holdren.
It’s no longer a four-way stop, and the signalized intersection also has its first dedicated left turn-arrows, too. It should also keep traffic moving. “By organizing traffic flow, what’s going to happen is we won’t have 16 cars trying to decide whose turn it is, which is what was happening at the four-way stop. We know just in general from all streets when roads are that busy, a traffic light is going to organize folks and make it clear whose turn it is to go and whose turn it is to turn,” said Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller.
The city also added new street lighting and road striping, along with upgrades to cross walks. Holdren said he hopes it will also encourage more businesses to move to the area. “Residents have waited years and years for this. So, if I’m a little jubilant, I’ve got good reason.”
The more than nine-month project cost just over a million dollars in city, state and federal funding. Another upgrade the city added nearby includes a flashing light for pedestrians at the Amole Arroyo Trail Crossing.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
