Bernalillo County approves millions for improving safety on Coors

Jonathan Fjeld | KOB

BERNALILLO COUNTY, N.M. — Bernalillo County commissioners approved $7.1 million for safety improvements on Coors Boulevard in Albuquerque.

Commissioners approved the funds unanimously. The funds will go toward safety improvements such as:

Lowering speed limits
Reducing lane widths
Constructing protected bike lanes and sidewalks
Raised medians
New lighting

Improvements will also come to crosswalks between Blake and Gun Club roads. The county received a $6.3 million federal grant to reduce or eliminate pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries on that two-mile stretch of Coors in the South Valley.

The overall safety improvements will cost $8 million.

Bernalillo County and the City of Albuquerque are each contributing $800,000, while NMDOT will provide additional “in-kind improvements” toward the project.

“These changes are desperately needed and will be lifesaving. The approval of the funding means we’re one step closer to getting these efforts underway,” said Steven Michael Quezada, the District 2 County Commissioner.