ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The City of Albuquerque has been using crash data to identify some of the most dangerous roads and ways to make them safer.

“This part of Louisana is on what we call the HFIN map, which is the most dangerous roads in Albuquerque and the roads we really try and prioritize to fix,” said Dan Mayfield with the city’s Department of Municipal Development. “This one and East Central are our highest priority right now for pedestrian deaths.”

Mayfield says a new road project along Louisiana between Central and Gibson will reduce the road to four lanes and add protected bike lanes.

“With the protected bike lane, you will see pedestrians stepping out off the sidewalk sooner and also it will be easier for people to commute, especially to the base, on bicycles,” Mayfield said.

Those in the cycling community say the change is long overdue.

“These are the first protected bike lanes within the city limits,” said Patrick Martin with BikeABQ. “This is amazing. Protected bike lanes are the gold standard of protected bike infrastructure. They are the best way to keep cyclists safe.”

The city will also add mid-block crosswalks so people can cross at different parts of the street. The project will cost $1 million, coming from an unlikely source – speed cameras.

“A lot of people have seen the ASC cameras, or speed cameras, in town. The program is run by our Vision Zero folks, they use that money to fund other road safety projects,” Mayfield said.

“The protected infrastructure that is going in on Louisiana is actually really simple,” Martin said. “This isn’t something that is some big complicated project that would take years to build and implement, it is really simple. We have a lot of buffer bike lanes throughout the city that could easily be upgraded with only a little bit more studying needed to be done.”