ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Michael Montoya has been living on McKnight Avenue in northwest Albuquerque for almost 20 years. He says, more often than not, his family is woken up by car crashes in the area.

“As you can see here, a car just went through this fence, went through the hotel fence, and ended up on the other end,” Montoya said.

He says the most recent crash happened about a week ago.

Montoya says that over the years, there have been many close calls. Once, a car hit a street light that almost landed on his house.

He says a driver also crashed into boulders his neighbor put up, and ended up flipping their car just feet away from his house.

Now, he says he is at his wit’s end.

“We’ve tried calling the city and they’ve come out and they look at it, and they tell us there’s nothing wrong, Montoya said.

Montoya has called various city departments and the mayor’s office about these issues, but nothing has been done. He feels like his concerns have gone unanswered.

Montoya says he loves his neighborhood and doesn’t want to leave – he’s just hoping to make it safer for everyone. He wants to see concrete barriers put up along the curve to stop drivers if they lose control.

“I just think there has to be protection for the homeowners because this situation was created by the city and the state when they created the freeway, and they didn’t do anything for the protection of the homeowners,” Montoya said.

KOB 4 reached out to the city about Montoya’s concerns and was referred to the Municipal Development Department. A spokesperson with the department said the city only has one crash on file for that area since 2018.

He added that the department would rather have a run-off area for drivers that speed out of control to go through rather than a barrier that drivers would crash into.

So far, safety measures in place include a flashing beacon, speed limit signs, and warning arrows.