A street racing crash that killed a Rio Rancho man and left two others with severe injuries on NM Highway 528 has accelerated safety improvements that area residents have demanded for years — but the corridor’s most significant fixes remain years away.
Rio Rancho police have assigned overtime enforcement details on NM 528 since the April 4 crash. The New Mexico Department of Transportation confirmed this spring that interim safety upgrades at the NM 528 and Pasilla Road intersection are underway, with a vendor anticipated to complete the work this summer. A long-term traffic signal at the same intersection has been added to the state’s Transportation Improvement Program for planning years 2029–2030 and has received federal approval — though construction cannot ha yet to begin.
The crash
Noah C De Baca, 24, died at the scene after police say he and a second driver were racing at speeds witnesses estimated between 100 and 120 mph. C De Baca’s 2004 Infiniti G35 struck a turning Subaru at the Corrales Road intersection and rolled multiple times. His passenger was extracted from the wreckage with severe injuries and underwent back surgery the day of the crash. The Subaru’s driver was transported to Presbyterian Rust Medical Center with possible foot and neck injuries.
The second driver — who admitted to officers that both vehicles had been traveling at high speed — had been issued a written warning for speeding on NM 528 approximately one hour before the crash. No charges have been filed. RRPD’s Traffic Division is conducting a full crash reconstruction.
A deadly stretch
The roughly 3.5-mile segment of NM 528 between Idalia Road NE and Honduras Road NE has been the site of numerous serious crashes over the years — including the one just south of the corridor that killed C De Baca. NMDOT recorded 24 crashes on the stretch in 2025 alone. A safety study presented by NMDOT in early 2026 cited seven fatalities in the previous 18 months and flagged critical safety concerns at intersections, including long-standing visibility problems caused by roadway design.
The data behind the Pasilla signal
The case for a traffic signal at NM 528 and Pasilla/Riverside has been building for years, according to an NMDOT signal warrant analysis of the intersection. The study recorded 25 crashes at the intersection between 2019 and 2023, nine of them the type correctable by a traffic signal. Five of those correctable crashes occurred within a single 12-month period — July 2020 to May 2021 — satisfying the federal crash-experience threshold that supports signal installation.
Weekend traffic data also supports a signal, the analysis found, partly because three churches near the intersection generate unusually high traffic surges during peak hours. Weekday volume data alone did not meet the threshold. Federal guidelines require that signal warrants be satisfied before construction can proceed, regardless of whether funding is in place.
A corridor with a history
Rep. Alan Martinez (District 23) has raised safety concerns about NM 528 for more than three years. After a separate fatal crash last June — in which he said an elderly couple leaving church was struck by a speeding driver — he brought those concerns to NMDOT, which agreed to conduct a traffic and speed study. Martinez hosted two town halls to elevate community voices directly to the agency.
What’s been approved and what’s coming
NMDOT outlined immediate and long-term safety measures on Dec. 18, based on study findings. On Jan. 15, the State Transportation Commission approved NMDOT’s recommendation to deploy speed cameras on the corridor. Three automated speed cameras are planned for NM 528, though the deployment timeline has not been announced.
At the Pasilla Road intersection, interim improvements will install new delineators and restripe lanes to improve visibility, creating right-in/right-out access for both northbound and southbound NM 528 traffic. The long-term signal project enters the design phase once a control number is issued — a process NMDOT estimates will take approximately 18 months to reach the construction-ready stage.
Because NM 528 is a state roadway, the City of Rio Rancho has no independent authority to make engineering or construction changes on the corridor.
NM 528 safety — what to know and who to contact:
- Interim Pasilla Rd. improvements: Anticipated this summer — delineators and restriping for right-in/right-out access
- Long-term traffic signal: TIP/STIP-listed for 2029–2030; federal approval received, design not yet begun
- Speed cameras: State Transportation Commission approved deployment Jan. 15, 2026; timeline TBD
- NMDOT signal-warrant analysis: dot.nm.gov/district-3
- RRPD non-emergency: 505-891-7200