ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Efforts to bring a new Dunkin’ Donuts to Albuquerque’s Barelas neighborhood are not sitting right with everyone who lives there.

City officials are reviewing a proposal to build a new location near 4th and Cesar Chavez, just down the street from the Hispanic Cultural Center. That area is already home to a few fast food restaurants, but can it handle one more?

KOB 4 talked to some neighborhood leaders, who say the traffic there is already bad enough.

“We want Dunkin’ Donuts here, but let’s see what we can do in keeping it safe,” said Antonio Aragon de Barelas, vice president of the Barelas Neighborhood Association.

Leaders with the Barelas Neighborhood Association say more coffee and donuts are welcome in their part of town, as long as it doesn’t make a stretch of Cesar Chavez even more dangerous.

“That’s what we’re worried about, especially in that location,” said Aragon de Barelas. “We have to keep our community safe for the pedestrians as well as the residents.” 

Developers are proposing to build the new location on the south side of Cesar Chavez between 3rd and 4th street, an area already prone to accidents.

Crash data shows between 2017 and 2022, the only 370-foot stretch of road clocked more than 230 incidents.

Neighborhood leaders believe another drive-thru is not going to help.

“It’s going to be a dangerous situation,” Aragon de Barelas said. “What’s most important to us is keeping that location safe for our pedestrians and residents, especially visiting our community, to even go to Dunkin’ Donuts.”

Neighborhood leaders are opposing a proposed zoning change that would make it easier for developers to add a drive-thru.

It’s not clear if a walk-up only location is a potential alternative, but neighbors say that’s something they’re willing to discuss.

“It’s like, ‘Hey, you guys are going the wrong way about it. Let’s do it this way, with a little bit more of common decency,’” said Aragon de Barelas.

It’s worth noting there’s a McDonald’s and Sonic Drive-Thru just a few hundred feet down the road.

Neighborhood leaders told KOB 4 those locations don’t have the same congestion and access issues.

They also pointed out the proposed Rail Trail walking path is supposed to cut through the same area. They suggested developers should be more focused on pedestrian-friendliness and not a drive-thru.

Regardless, neighbors are asking for a traffic study in the area to really understand the potential impact.