Appeals court clears ART project; city still hasn’t received grant

An appeals court this week affirmed a lower court’s ruling the massive Albuquerque Rapid Transit project along Central Avenue (aka Route 66) can proceed.

However, the city still hasn’t received a crucial $69 million grant to fund the mass-transit bus project, more than 10 months after it was recommended by the Federal Transportation Administration.

The fact the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 55-page ruling, affirmed a lower-court judge’s ruling wasn’t a surprise. The Albuquerque Journal reported:

The three-judge panel rejected a host of legal arguments offered by opponents of the project — largely centering on whether the city and Federal Transit Administration had violated environmental and national historic preservation laws in planning the project.

The judges concluded that opponents failed to prove it would be in the public interest to halt construction of the project, among other findings.

At least 150 businesses stated their opposition to ART and launched a website against it. They said the 18-month construction and reductions in vehicular traffic will hurt their businesses.

ART would carve out two center lanes of nearly 10 miles of Central Avenue for buses. The idea aims to make Albuquerque more attractive to millennials and cutting-edge companies.

There’s no word in the report whether ART opponents will appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

This nugget stood out in the Journal’s report:

In arguments before the 10th Circuit, the FTA said it has not yet approved a $69 million “Small Starts” grant that is critical to financing construction, and Congress hasn’t yet adopted a budget that would fund the grant.

The city received word Feb. 9 the FTA would recommend awarding the $69 million grant for the $119 million project. The city says the FTA never has refused funding for a project this far along.

However, if I were Mayor Richard Berry, who shepherded the ART project through the city council, I’d alarmed the city has received no federal money at this late stage.

The Congress has demonstrated it gets little done except for essential or extremely noncontroversial legislation.

And with Donald Trump ready to assume the presidency in about a month, there’s no telling whether he will support funding a project such as ART. He campaigned on more U.S. infrastructure spending. However, he has criticized federal spending projects he deems too costly.

Berry began a nearly $120 million mass-transit project without all the money needed in hand. If the federal government ultimately rejects the $69 million grant, can the city fund ART by itself?

So far, that question remains unanswered.

(Artist’s rendering of an Albuquerque Rapid Transit station)