A federal appeals court on Monday put the brakes on construction of the $120 million Albuquerque Rapid Transit project, issuing a temporary restraining order.
Construction was schedule to begin on ART as soon as Wednesday.
The city of Albuquerque won a federal court battle late Friday when a judge refused to issue a restraining order against the project that would have added dedicated bus lanes to nine miles of Central Avenue, aka Route 66. The Albuquerque Journal reported Monday:
But John Boyd, an attorney for a coalition of business and property owners opposing ART, filed an appeal with the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which responded Monday by issuing its own temporary injunction and ordering both sides to submit their arguments by 4 p.m. today.
The order also directs the city to inform the court of any construction planned before Aug. 10. […]
City Attorney Jessica Hernandez said the pre-construction work is now on hold, pending the court decision.
The city hopes the appeal will be resolved in a few days.
Central Avenue business owners say the ART project will aggravate traffic congestion and ruin the corridor’s historic Route 66 atmosphere.
But two city councilors are floating proposals to halt construction, as well. The Journal reports Councilor Ken Sanchez wants the city to work with business owners on how to improve access to their property. City Councilor Diane Gibson said she would introduce a proposal that would put ART on the November ballot.
Sanchez told Albuquerque Business First:
“I think that we need to gather a contingent of individuals including [Mayor Berry], the Federal Transit Administration and business owners along the corridor to make some changes to ease some of the hardship,” said Sanchez.
Both proposals face an uphill battle, as the city council passed ART by a 7-2 vote earlier this year. And either bill won’t come out of committee until September at the earliest.
ART opponents also are gathering signatures to put the project on the November ballot. They must have a total of 14,000 signatures by the end of August.
(Artist’s rendering of an Albuquerque Rapid Transit station)