As more and more people turn to walking and bicycling for their daily commutes, pedestrian alternatives become even more important, according to several local groups that are working toward safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists.
Founded in 1998, BikeABQ is one such group that dedicates itself to keeping Albuquerque's streets safe for bicyclists.
Ben Savoca, vice president of BikeABQ, said the group wants to encourage using bikes as a vehicle alternative.
"Its mission is to promote bicycling as recreation and transportation," he said.
BikeABQ is responsible for overhauling the city's bike ordinances for the first time in 35 years, providing for pedestrian alternatives. Recently, their efforts resulted in a "bicycle boulevard" on Silver Avenue.
"Silver was already the ideal place," Savoca said. "It's already used by a lot of bicyclists. We were anticipating a really negative reaction from cars, so we figured Silver is between Central and Lead and Coal, so it's not very hard for a car to choose to take one of those roads."
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After Silver Avenue's successful change, Savoca said the City of Albuquerque is taking BikeABQ's recommendations for future streets to be changed into bike boulevards, including the Four Hills area in eastern Albuquerque.
"They're looking at turning Copper/Campus into a bike boulevard," he said. "Bike boulevards are hopefully going to be springing up around town."
Diane Sena, a WalkABQ representative, said her organization advocates better standards for pedestrian safety. The group started in 2003.
Putting their feet in several city and sector planning processes, WalkABQ activists have influenced legislation and worked to increase awareness about pedestrian safety.
Sena said WalkABQ is attempting to reclaim Albuquerque's streets for pedestrians.
"A street is a public place that carries a lot of other purposes," she said. "The problem is that the city was designed a lot around the automobiles. A lot of attention, transportation dollars and other resources have gone to making sure the cars move as smoothly and quickly as possible, and that's resulted in a loss of attention to pedestrians and loss of options for pedestrians."
Junior Matthew Scott, an avid bicyclist, said he feels "moderately safe" while walking or bicycling around town.
"One just has to be aware of what's going on and never assume anyone is looking out for you," he said.
Scott said changes to increase pedestrian safety in the city would be beneficial.
"Safer pedestrian and bike-friendly streets would definitely encourage me to walk and bike more," he said.
Savoca said that bicycle boulevards and other developments are in the works.
"One future change that I know is coming down the pipeline is the bridge at the Rio Grande and I-40," he said. "It's an arch truss bridge that extends the trail from Wal-Mart on the Westside down to the river and then connects that with the Bosque trail, which is going to be a really key connector."
Despite the magnitude of the bike-friendly development, Savoca said the city and BikeABQ are being fiscally responsible.
"The city is spending very little money and getting a lot of federal stimulus money," he said. "We're getting a great bridge and a great asset to the bike community as well."
