CITY of ALBUQUERQUE
TWENTY SEVENTH COUNCIL
COUNCIL BILL NO. O-26-55 ENACTMENT NO. ________________________
SPONSORED BY: Tammy Fiebelkorn, Nichole Rogers
ORDINANCE
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Amending The Complete Streets Ordinance, Chapter 6, Article 5, Part 6 Of The Revised Ordinances Of Albuquerque 1994 To Require That The City Consider Quick Build Safety Treatments When Planning Road Construction, Resurfacing, Reconstruction Of Sidewalks, Or Restriping Projects On City Streets (Fiebelkorn, Rogers)
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AMENDING THE COMPLETE STREETS ORDINANCE, CHAPTER 6, ARTICLE 5, PART 6 OF THE REVISED ORDINANCES OF ALBUQUERQUE 1994 TO REQUIRE THAT THE CITY CONSIDER QUICK BUILD SAFETY TREATMENTS WHEN PLANNING ROAD CONSTRUCTION, RESURFACING, RECONSTRUCTION OF SIDEWALKS, OR RESTRIPING PROJECTS ON CITY STREETS.
WHEREAS, the City of Albuquerque enacted the Complete Streets Ordinance (ROA 1994, §§ 6-5-6-1 through 6-5-6-8) to ensure that City streets are designed and maintained to safely and efficiently serve all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and motorists; and
WHEREAS, Albuquerque has one of the highest pedestrian and cyclist fatality rates in the nation, and people walking, rolling, and bicycling in our community deserve streets designed with their safety as a priority; and
WHEREAS, "quick build" projects use durable, lower-cost materials, such as traffic paint, pavement markings, flexible delineator posts, and preformed concrete elements, to implement proven safety countermeasures faster and at lower cost than major capital projects, and can often be incorporated into routine maintenance and resurfacing projects with marginal additional cost; and
WHEREAS, the New Mexico Department of Transportation published its Quick Build Guide (April 2026), which provides a toolkit of treatments that can improve safety and multimodal conditions on arterial, collector, and local streets throughout New Mexico, including within Albuquerque; and
WHEREAS, requiring the City to systematically evaluate quick build options during project planning, and to document the rationale when quick build treatments are not incorporated, will create accountability and accelerate safety improvements for vulnerable road users.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL, THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE:
SECTION 1. Section 6-5-6-5 of the Revised Ordinances of Albuquerque is hereby amended to insert a new definition as follows:
QUICK BUILD PROJECT. An interim capital infrastructure project built with durable, low to moderate cost materials to implement safety and multimodal street improvements faster and at lower cost than traditional capital projects. Quick build projects typically can be designed and constructed within one year. They are designed to remain in place for one to five years, can be adjusted or removed based on community input and technical analysis, and do not typically involve curb relocation, roadway widening, or right-of-way acquisition.
SECTION 2. Section 6-5-6-6 of the Revised Ordinances of Albuquerque is hereby amended to add a new subsection (L) as follows:
(L) QUICK BUILD SAFETY EVALUATION REQUIRED. For all road construction, resurfacing, reconstruction of sidewalks, or restriping on City streets, the Department of Municipal Development (DMD) or the responsible City agency shall evaluate whether quick build treatments can reasonably be incorporated into the project scope to improve safety, reduce timeline, reduce costs, and improve multimodal access for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and other vulnerable road users.
(1) The evaluation shall consider applicable treatments from NMDOT's Quick Build Guide or equivalent nationally recognized guidance, including but not limited to: dedicated bicycle facilities, pedestrian lanes, road diets, curb extensions, median refuges, high-visibility crosswalks, rapid rectangular flashing beacons, speed cushions, and other proven safety countermeasures consistent with the purposes of this Ordinance.
(2) If a quick build treatment is not incorporated into a project, the Department of Municipal Development or the responsible City agency shall document in the project file the specific reason or reasons the treatment was determined to be infeasible.
(3) Quick build treatments identified through road construction, resurfacing, reconstruction of sidewalks, or restriping may be incorporated through the primary project scope, companion projects, follow-up implementation efforts, subsequent capital improvement projects, grant opportunities, operational funding where appropriate and available, or other available funding sources, as determined appropriate by the responsible City agency based on engineering feasibility, operational considerations, staffing capacity, and available funding.
(4) In implementing Quick Build treatments, the Department of Municipal Development may collaborate with the Department of Arts and Culture to identify locations for potential art projects where practicable.
(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede or modify applicable federal, state, or local laws, regulations, standards, or engineering requirements. Evaluation and implementation of quick build treatments shall remain subject to applicable provisions of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG), American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) guidance, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) guidance, City standards, and accepted engineering judgment and practice.
(6) The Department of Municipal Development shall submit an annual written report to the City Council via Executive Communication in August, on the number of road construction, resurfacing, reconstruction of sidewalks, and restriping projects completed during the prior fiscal year, the number of those projects that incorporated quick build treatments, and a summary of the reasons quick build treatments were not incorporated in projects where they were not included. This written report shall be made available to the public annually on the Department of Municipal Development website.
SECTION 3. SEVERABILITY. If any section, paragraph, sentence, clause, word or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this Ordinance. The Council hereby declares that it would have passed this Ordinance and each section, paragraph, sentence, clause, word or phrase thereof irrespective of any provision being declared unconstitutional or otherwise invalid.
SECTION 4. COMPILATION. Section 1 and Section 2 of this Ordinance shall amend, be incorporated in, and be compiled as part of the Revised Ordinances of Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1994.
SECTION 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Ordinance shall take effect five (5) days after publication by title and general summary.
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