Residents Say State DOT Highway 528 Safety Plan Falls Short

Residents who live along a deadly stretch of Highway 528 in Rio Rancho say the New Mexico Department of Transportation's proposed safety plan amounts to a stopgap that sidesteps the infrastructure changes their neighborhood has demanded for years. Seven people have been killed along the corridor in the past 18 months, and 24 crashes were reported in the area in 2025 alone.

The 3.5-mile segment between Idalia Road NE and Honduras Road NE has drawn mounting concern as Rio Rancho's population has grown and traffic volumes have climbed steadily. NMDOT data shows daily vehicle counts along the stretch rose from 19,500 in 2014 to 21,000 by the agency's most recent annual tally. A 2024 crash near the Rivers Edge 2 neighborhood claimed two lives, and residents say the danger has only compounded since.

NMDOT presented its proposed remedies at a January town hall at the Church of the Incarnation on Monterrey Road NE. The plan centers on the Pasilla Road intersection: installing delineators to eliminate left turns onto 528, adding stop signs on Pasilla and Riverside roads, and upgrading pavement markings. A traffic signal, the fix residents have requested most consistently, was ruled out. The agency's study concluded that weekday traffic volumes do not yet meet the threshold that warrants one, though NMDOT acknowledged a signal will eventually be necessary as the area continues to develop.

Ed McCool, who lives near the highway off Honduras Road NE, said the experience of crossing 528 has become genuinely frightening. "That's exactly what trying to get out across this highway to go north is," McCool said, comparing it to the arcade game Frogger. "It's you, but it's your life, not a video game." He rejected the premise that additional studies justify inaction. "Studies don't mean anything," McCool said. "One life is worth far more than any studies you can do. I don't know what the harm is in putting safety measures in that really work."

Ted Bandmoere, who lives off Pasilla Road NE, said he has watched the situation deteriorate for years. "There's been a lot of accidents there, and I think four fatals. Helicopters landed there a bunch of times," Bandmoere said. He noted the community has sought a traffic light before, without success. "We've tried to get a light there. They've done two studies and say the traffic's not heavy enough."

That explanation has drawn sharp pushback from elected officials as well. At a December 18 Rio Rancho Governing Body meeting, council members and Mayor Gregg Hull questioned whether eliminating left turns off Pasilla would simply redirect danger elsewhere. Hull warned that forcing drivers onto Riverside and toward a U-turn near a busy fire station could create its own hazards. State Rep. Alan Martinez, a Republican who represents District 23 in Sandoval County, has pressed NMDOT since at least June 2025, when hundreds of residents packed the same Church of the Incarnation venue to demand action. Martinez wrote to NMDOT Secretary Ricky Serna in December, calling study delays "unacceptable" and arguing that "it is the responsibility of NMDOT to implement long-term infrastructure solutions, not local law enforcement."

NMDOT says the Pasilla Road changes are scheduled for installation this summer. The Rio Rancho Police Department plans to increase patrols in the corridor next month and is seeking NMDOT approval to deploy speed cameras, a measure that requires the state's sign-off since 528 is a state-controlled highway. For residents like Leah Yates, who lives near the Honduras Road section, the timeline feels grimly familiar. "Fatalities, traffic accidents, for 15, 20 years. It's not going to get better. It's only going to get worse," Yates said earlier this year. "The traffic solutions on 528 have to be now, not five to 10 years from now.