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Higher visibility for Albuquerque: priceless.

Higher visibility for Albuquerque street signs: pricey.

In an effort to make life easier for Albuquerque drivers, the city hopes to install new electric and highly reflective street signs at 597 intersections, Municipal Development Director John Castillo said.

The city is asking for $1 million in the 2007 bond election for the project, but the final cost has not been calculated, he said.

Meantime, surplus money in the current funding cycle will allow the signs to start popping up next month after the city finalizes its design, Castillo said.

"All the major cities have them," Mayor Martin Chavez said. "It's straight-up public safety."

The illuminated signs, which use light-emitting diodes, cost about $5,000 each, Castillo said. The reflective signs cost about $300 each.

Signs at major intersections will have LED displays. Signs at smaller intersections will get high-intensity sheeting that will allow motorists to see them from afar, he said.

The signs will have block numbers posted on them, which will make it easier to find businesses at night, he said.

City Council President Debbie O'Malley said the lights could be a good idea because they help people who have bad eyesight.

"I could support it if there's money," O'Malley said. "At this point, we don't know if the funding is available" for the complete sign makeover.

The LED signs are energy efficient, so they won't make a dent in the city's electric bill, Castillo said.

The city has tested signs at the intersection of Indian School Road and University Boulevard Northeast for the past two months, he said.

The design of the sign, which has not been finalized, will be unique to Albuquerque, he said.

Kevin Broderick, a traffic engineer with the Department of Municipal Development and Traffic Engineering said the first of the LED signs will go up along Coors and Montgomery boulevards, and other major corridors.