City Puts Street Safety on Faster Track with Quick Build
New approach uses practical, flexible improvements to make streets safer without waiting years for major reconstruction
ALBUQUERQUE – The City does not always need to wait years or undertake a major reconstruction project to make a street safer. Sometimes meaningful improvements can start with paint, protective barriers, a safer crossing, and a smarter use of the street already there.
Enter Quick Build. Under a recent amendment to Albuquerque’s Complete Streets Ordinance, the Department of Municipal Development will evaluate Quick Build safety treatments when streets are resurfaced, restriped, reconstructed, or otherwise undergoing applicable work.
“If we know how to make a street safer, paperwork shouldn’t be what keeps us from doing it,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “Quick Build lets us use the street and resources we already have, make an improvement, see how it works, and adjust if we need to. Protecting lives shouldn't have to wait for a multimillion-dollar project or years of red tape.”
The protected bike lanes on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near I-25 demonstrate what that approach can look like. Using flexible safety treatments, the City was able to improve the corridor on a timeline measured in months rather than waiting for a future major reconstruction project.
Quick Build treatments can include protected bicycle facilities, high-visibility crosswalks, curb extensions, pedestrian refuge areas, traffic-calming measures, and other proven safety improvements. Because they often rely on durable but flexible materials such as pavement markings, delineator posts, and preformed concrete elements, projects can be delivered more quickly and adapted based on real-world experience and community feedback.
The approach also changes how the City evaluates routine roadwork. Instead of treating street maintenance as simply a matter of repaving and repainting, the City will consider whether that work presents an opportunity to improve safety for everyone who uses the road.
“Every time we work on a street, we have a chance to ask a bigger question: Can we make this safer while we're here?” said Department of Municipal Development Director Jennifer Turner. “We can now make targeted improvements, evaluate how they work and make adjustments where needed.”
The amendment, O-26-55, requires the Department of Municipal Development to evaluate potential quick-build treatments during applicable street projects and document why a treatment is infeasible when one is not incorporated. DMD will also provide annual public reporting on the use of these treatments.
The City will use the New Mexico Department of Transportation's April 2026 “Quick Build Guide” to help identify appropriate treatments and put them into practice.
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