Skip to main content

Albuquerque to get regional traffic management centre

The city of Albuquerque in New Mexico is to get a new regional traffic management centre according to mayor Richard J. Berry, who has unveiled plans for a brand new facility located at Kirtland Air Force Base. The centre is proposed to be located in the Jenkins Armed Forces Reserve Center which was relocated onto Kirkland Air Force Base. The City of Albuquerque owned the property, and had been leasing it for a dollar a year to the armed services. “And now”, says the mayor, “the armed services are donating
October 4, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The city of Albuquerque in New Mexico is to get a new regional traffic management centre according to mayor Richard J. Berry, who has unveiled plans for a brand new facility located at Kirtland Air Force Base.

The centre is proposed to be located in the Jenkins Armed Forces Reserve Center which was relocated onto Kirkland Air Force Base. The City of Albuquerque owned the property, and had been leasing it for a dollar a year to the armed services.

“And now”, says the mayor, “the armed services are donating the facilities on-site for free which is going to save us tens of millions of capital dollars to build a regional traffic management centre. This is a win-win for the citizens of Albuquerque and the metropolitan area."

The current traffic management centre operates “out of a double-wide trailer” says Berry, which communicates primarily by phone with a second centre currently located in the basement of the Mid- Region Council of Governments building down town.

"When complete, we’ll have all the stakeholders in the same area communicating in real time, solving traffic snarls around the region," Mid-Region Council of Governments Executive Director Dewey Cave told local reporters. “We are excited that this new centre is moving forward."

Cave is pleased that “early cost estimates for construction are running close to US$9 million,” rather than the US$70 million usually spent on similarly sized projects. By recycling the existing facilities and infrastructure, says Cave, “Albuquerque has already started using the other buildings on the site for DMD street maintenance equipment, and part of Solid Waste Department’s recycling program. A new Fire Department maintenance shop and Police Athletic League activities are also planned for the very near future.”

Construction of the centre is still two years away, according to officials.

Related Content

  • Solar-powered traffic detection improves communication
    January 31, 2012
    Pete Goldin reports on a new wireless, solar-powered traffic detection system being used by Caltrans District 12. As more and more traffic data is necessary to satisfy the needs of traffic management centres and traveller information systems, and as traffic detection technology becomes more ubiquitous, transportation authorities are pressured to find more economical ways of expanding their detection systems. Caltrans District 12 is leading this push by deploying the latest detection system from Case Global
  • Congestion charge: Big Changes in the Big Apple
    July 11, 2023
    New York City is falling in line with other major global cities in charging drivers for using its streets, writes Adam Hill: the Central Business District Tolling Program is on its way. Probably
  • Ukraine turns to ITS to cope with traffic increases
    June 9, 2015
    With increasing road fatalities the Ukrainian government is planning to introduce ITS technology in 2016-2017. Eugene Gerden finds out more. The government of Ukraine is considering a massive introduction of ITS in the national system of traffic during the period 2016-2017, according to a recent statement by the Ukrainian Ministry of Transport. According to the Ukrainian government, implementation of the project is an acute need, as in recent years the number of road accidents in Ukraine has significantly
  • GridMatrix goes back to the future in New York City
    September 25, 2023
    Legacy traffic management infrastructure doesn’t have to be a marker of the past: software upgrades can bring it into the present in a cost-effective and timely way, says Gordon Feller