If the Albuquerque Journal can post a news “story” that is nothing but tweets strung together, why can’t Better Burque?

APD enroute to an accident involving a pedestrian 5th and Lead @abqfire

— APD Traffic (@ABQTraffic) November 4, 2019

Downtown intersections such as 5th/Lead have undergone significant changes in road engineering and public policy lately.

• Lead, and Coal, Avenues Downtown now have newly engineered streets including bike lanes. That’s saying something considering for years prior there wasn’t even decipherable lane striping in many places.
• Lead/Coal intersection timing has been set for the new reduction to 20 mph, as part of the recent designation of both arterials as part of the “Downtown Safety Zone.”
• A new development including planned public market has gone up at 4th and Lead, one that should significantly increase walking traffic in and around the market.

That a single #crashnotaccident involving someone walking at 5th/Lead happens isn’t necessarily an indictment of these recent safety attempts and other changes. One does wonder, though, if the rate of such incidents at/near 5th/Lead will show a reduction over time, and whether the lower speed limits and other measures will make more of these unfortunate occurrences result in mere scrapes instead of death.

In the case of the last night’s tweeted case at 5th/Lead we don’t even know if an injury occurred, and we never will unless somebody tracks down a crash report. Which reminds me, somebody needs to track down a crash report and keep up with such incidents Downtown.

Otherwise, from who and when will we ever know how effective the “Downtown Safety Zone” and other measures will have been?