Case study November 2026
Albuquerque, NM
EverGen
Central Avenue already had streetlights, but its sidewalks were dark and uninviting. The City added pedestrian-scale solar lighting to help improve visibility and deter crime.
Albuquerque’s Central Avenue is one of the deadliest roads in the U.S. for pedestrians. Part of historic Route 66, the busy thoroughfare cuts through sprawling commercial areas, where fast-moving traffic, wide lanes, and poor nighttime visibility have long created hazardous conditions for people on foot. Crime and drug activity in some areas compound the safety challenges facing residents and businesses.
The City has implemented a series of improvements, including lower speed limits, fewer and narrower vehicle lanes, new pedestrian crossings, and targeted enforcement. There are signs of progress—serious-injury crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists were down 56% as of September 2025—but the roadway remains dangerous. Better lighting was needed to make it safer and more welcoming after dark.
Although Central Avenue already had streetlights, they were positioned along the median and designed to illuminate the roadway rather than the sidewalks on either side. That left pedestrians in shadow, making it harder for them to make out their surroundings and for drivers to spot them before they stepped into the street.
City officials knew dedicated pedestrian lighting would improve visibility and might also help deter crime. But even with electrical infrastructure nearby, connecting the new fixtures to the grid would require extensive, costly work: cutting through pavement, closing traffic lanes and sidewalks, and disrupting access to businesses.
Solar lighting offered a way around that disruption, and the City had already used it on other projects in and around Albuquerque. Although solar systems typically cost more upfront than conventional fixtures, officials saw long-term value in their durability and lack of ongoing electricity bills.
Working with Acuity’s local lighting representative, Sol developed a 187-light solution pairing EverGen 3 solar engines with white Cyclone Domia Mini pendant-style fixtures. The style and finish are consistent with the grid-powered pedestrian lighting used elsewhere in the city, and the systems were sized to provide the required light output from dusk-to-dawn—a must on a corridor that sees activity throughout the night.
Completed in early 2026, the installation marks another step in the City’s effort to make Central Avenue safer for pedestrians. The project addressed a longstanding lighting gap, improving nighttime visibility without the cost and disruption of underground electrical work. A second phase has been proposed to extend the approach farther along the corridor.
