The city of Albuquerque said it received federal approval for Albuquerque Rapid Transit, but the city will hold off on any action until a federal judge hears a lawsuit against the project next week.
The Albuquerque Journal reported:
In a letter to U.S. District Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales, City Attorney Jessica Hernandez said the city has received a “Letter of No Prejudice,” which allows the city to immediately spend up to $59 million that is eligible for reimbursement by the Federal Transit Administration.
That’s true even though the city hasn’t received final approval for the main $69 million federal grant that would pay for the bulk of the project, city officials said.
Similar cities have started construction after receiving a letter of no prejudice, Hernandez said, but the city plans to wait for Gonzales to rule, “barring unforeseen circumstances.”
The nearly $120 million ART project would carve out two center lanes of nearly 10 miles of Central Avenue, aka Route 66, for buses.
The proposal, shepherded by Mayor Richard Berry and passed 7-2 by the city council, would have 80 percent of its cost covered by a federal grant. Supporters say ART would make Albuquerque more attractive to millennials and cutting-edge companies. Opponents say ART would snarl traffic on Central and hurt businesses there. (Central shopkeepers launched a website against ART.)
The Journal reports Congress hasn’t authorized a budget for the $69 million grant to help fund ART. But city officials said they’re not aware of a project that received a Letter of No Prejudice that has not received funding. And the Obama administration has recommended the funding.
Also, the city’s Landmarks and Urban Conservation Commission must approve the ART project before it can go ahead.
At least one other lawsuit was filed against ART in recent months, but the Journal didn’t report the status of the second suit in Friday’s report.
The city hopes to officially break ground on ART next month. But with so many legal balls in the air, that seems doubtful. The city already has pushed back its groundbreaking at least twice. Best-case scenario is ART will be fully operational by late 2017.
UPDATE 7/24/2016: A car show along Route 66 was organized Saturday night to protest ART.
(Artist’s rendering of one of the ART stations)
This project is nothing in the world but a money-in-the-pocket for the contractors. It will RUIN the character of historic Route 66 through the City of Albuquerque. The money would be much better-spent and would benefit many more people if it were run down Lomas Boulevard from Old Town to the east side. But no….the mayor wants to leave “his mark” on Albuquerque in the form of this boondoggle, and no amount of talking to him is making any difference whatsoever. We can only hope and pray that the courts see the wisdom of stopping this project.
This, gentle reader, is why we as a country are 19 trillion dollars in debt.
I agree with the first comment, this is just the mayor trying to leave his mark.