New lighting slated for Downtown core, including alleys

August 5, 2021

Ryan Lowery

Lighting improvements worth $1 million are coming to a wide swath of the Downtown core, including some of its darkest alleyways.

Exactly where the new lighting will be installed, however, has not been decided, city spokesman Johnny Chandler told DAN. The process will begin with an audit to determine where it is needed most.

“It’s very similar to what we did in Wells Park,” Chandler said (DAN, 11/10/20). “We’re auditing the pedestrian street lighting system in Downtown Albuquerque, and fixing deficiencies where we find them.”

Fixing those deficiencies could mean repairing or upgrading existing fixtures or adding new lights to areas identified by the audit as needing either more lighting or general safety improvements.

But some portions of alleyways are actually private property, and in those cases, the city won’t be able to make lighting improvements. Instead, Chandler said, it will be “encouraging” property owners to install their own lighting.

The audit will review the lighting in the area from Lomas south to Coal, and Eighth east to the railroad tracks (interactive map). It’s the same area city officials designated a “safety zone” in 2019, complete with speed limit reductions to 20 mph.

The project should begin this fall or early winter, but Chandler did not have an exact start date. He said the city is presently installing nearly 500 new street lights in other parts of town and that contractors won’t be able to start working Downtown until those projects are completed.

Regardless of the start date, Chandler said the work should be completed no later than spring of 2022. He doesn’t expect any major traffic issues stemming from it but said there could be occasional, temporary lane closures as crews install footings for the new lighting.

The $1 million in funding for the project is already on the books, coming from the city’s 2022 fiscal year operating budget, which began July 1.

“This is a continued investment into Downtown public safety, when it comes to speeders and pedestrian safety,” Chandler said. “Lighting obviously helps that.”