The city has begun installing $100,000 worth of pedestrian countdown signals at several intersections in Albuquerque -- including at some of the most heavily used crosswalks around campus.
The signals are being installed in two phases. The city is finishing the project's first phase, which began about two weeks ago, and should begin the second one by next month.
"It was a good thing for us to implement," said Dave Harmon, traffic engineer at the city's Public Works Department. "You get a better level of compliance from the pedestrians crossing the crosswalk."
The signals activate after a pedestrian pushes the normal crosswalk signal button at an intersection. But when the signals notify the pedestrian to walk, they also display a numbered countdown, showing how much time is left until the traffic lights change.
The city's $100,000 was used to purchase about 300 of the pedestrian countdown traffic signals from Precision Solar Controls, Harmon said.
He added that the city has received its first order of the signals, about 150, and is awaiting its second shipment.
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Public Works officials have targeted several areas of the city that are prime locations for the new signals. Already, they have been installed around campus and in the downtown and Nob Hill areas.
Other areas considered as primary locations for the signals include intersections near public schools, in high pedestrian traffic areas and at crosswalks that are longer than average.
Near UNM, the signals have been installed at several intersections including Central Avenue and Yale Boulevard; Central Avenue and Stanford Drive; Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and University Boulevard; and at Lomas and Yale Boulevards.
"I think they're pretty convenient," said Phillip Marbury, a UNM freshman. "But they're only really good if the people using them are aware of what's going on."
Students are not the only people at UNM who have noticed the signals.
Christel Ray, a UNM shuttle bus driver on the Yale Redondo loop route, said the signals make things easier for her when she has to drive through the intersection of Yale Boulevard and Central Avenue during a typical eight-hour shift.
"You pay more attention -- I mean me also because I can see the light," Ray said.
She said the signals definitely make the intersections safer and safety was undoubtedly a major factor in the installation of the signals.
According to a report released last year by The Surface Transportation Policy Project, between 2000 and 2001, the state's rate of pedestrian fatalities was nearly double the national average. For every 100,000 New Mexico residents, there were 3.3 pedestrian fatalities. The national average for those years was 1.7.
Harmon said some of the crews installing the signals have begun to receive positive feedback from the community, but he cautions against drawing any quick conclusions.
"It's still very early in the process," he said.
