As our Albuquerque members know, the intersection of I25 and Comanche is under construction. Comanche is one of the few east west bicycle routes in the north part of the city. While we appreciate all the changes that they are doing to make the intersection safer for automobiles, we are appalled to find out that they made the intersection, which already caused the death of a cyclist in 2010, even more dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists.
Nothing in the plans for this intersection make it safer. While improving the safety under the interchange, the designs, in fact, make crossing the intersections and safety past the bridge, especially on the east side of the interchange (where the cyclist died), much more dangerous:
1) The plan permits right turn on red. Studies show that, not allowing right turn on red reduces the number of accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists by over 10%. With a speed limit of 40mph, this situation becomes even more dangerous
2) The corners on all the right-hand turns are all rounded. ASHTO states that rounded corners allow motorist to turn at higher speeds Making the corners right angles forces drivers to take them with much more caution, making them much safer for pedestrians and cyclists. This also reduces the length of the street that a pedestrian and cyclist must cross, putting them in harm’s way for a shorter period of time.
3) On the east and north side of the intersection, where a cyclist was killed, cyclists are put in a lane to the right of the turn lane, putting them in between cars with speed limits of 40mph. While this is standard practice for intersections with lower speeds, forcing a cyclist to move left into the bike lane and then to cross right, across the turning traffic, to reach the protected lane under the bridge is overly dangerous.
4) On the east and south side of the intersection, the bike lane is removed completely, and cyclists must share the road, going up hill, with cars going 40mph. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)’s Bikeway Selection Guide states that if a street has more than 2,000 vehicles per day or speeds exceeding 20 mph, bicyclists need a dedicated lane. And when those number climb even higher—more than 30 mph and 6,000 vehicles per day—it is unsafe not to have a fully separated bicycling facility.
Therefore, we ask for the following:
1) The intersection be posted no right turn on red at all right turns or add street lights, that pedestrians and cyclists can activate, that give them the right away at these crossings.
2) Right corners be squared to force cars to slow when making turns.
3) The barrier separated shared-use paths be extended on all sides of the intersection through the entire project area.
Please take action now by reaching out to the following people to demand that NMDOT make these easy changes to the intersection to save lives. Thank you! Alex
Take Action Now by contacting the following:
Albuquerque City Councilors (the interchange is on the border of Joaquin Baca's and Tammy Fiebelkorn's districts): https://www.cabq.gov/council/find-your-councilor
State Legislators with strong transportation safety records:
Senator Antoinette Sedillo-Lopez: a.sedillolopez@nmlegis.gov
Senator Michael Padilla: michael.padilla@nmlegis.gov
Representative Day Hochman-Vigil: dayan.hochman-vigil@nmlegis.gov
Representative Joy Garratt: joy.garratt@nmlegis.gov
Project contractor AUI Inc. https://auiinc.net
If you have any questions, contact Alex
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