Spencer, Thank you for asking this question. In addition to answering this question, I hope to address a few other concerns which remain after several months of well-attended
public meetings.
Yes, operating costs for ART are included in the budget and application submitted to the Feds. Additional line items for full-time security and a dedicated maintenance/graffiti
team are also included so that we are not building a new project we cannot maintain.
It is important to clear up a few other myths as well:
- Water bills (and other utility bills, for that matter) will not go up. Maintenance on utility infrastructure along the Central Ave construction route is being paid for through existing maintenance budgets
of the utilities. No new costs to customers are necessary.
- The design team was deliberate to maintain the same number of trees in the Nob Hill area. To do so, existing tree boxes are being located from the medians to sidewalks (much like Lead/Coal today). You
can see these new landscaping locations in the
section-by-section designs here.
- Nob Hill will not lose parking spaces on Central. Again, you can see the proposed street parking spaces on the designs referenced above.
- In fact, Nob Hill will GAIN more parking through the coming Silver Ave redesign being managed through my Council office. Hearing from businesses and bicyclists that they needed to preserve and
improve bicycle access and parking ahead of ART, I have been working with DMD to fast-track this
Silver Ave project started by Councilor Garduno. Final public meetings are coming in April with work to start in July. It will be completed way ahead of the anticipated ART construction in Nob Hill next year.
- I have also initiated the process to begin a study to determine a location a feasibility for a
Nob Hill public parking structure to alleviate parking crowding in neighborhoods and to provide much needed additional retail and event parking in Nob Hill.
Funding Questions
You can find the entire grant application, complete with the funding sources and budget, online here: http://www.brtabq.com/resources/smallstarts. There
are more than 30 attachments totaling hundreds of pages. I have reviewed each of these at some length with the ART team and finance staff. The documents you may find most interesting are the
finance template detailing where the funds come from, and the total
finance plan submitted in July 2015. All local funds are “committed funds,” meaning the local government has promised to dedicate these funds if the application is approved, which it has been.
- Both make reference to City Council approval of local funds through City Resolution R-15-185.
This item passed council unanimously in May 2015 and was signed by the Mayor. A copy is included in the website as well.
- The remaining funds were already appropriated or were already available to the Mayor through other federal grants. The final project finance plan and grant application were submitted to the federal
government in July 2015. By all accounts, ART as a concept and as designed was approved at this time.
To clear up a few rumors and misconceptions:
- Only transit funds are dedicated to this project. Despite rumors to the contrary, no social service money is used for ART.
What other concerns remain?
As ART moves forward I am concerned that current plans provide ART stops every 1/4 mile or so from Old Town to Nob Hill, but have no stops in the neighborhoods most transit-dependent (especially our
own Intl. District and the communities along Central between the Rio Grande and Unser). Current plans call for those residents to use the local 66-route bus which will run in normal traffic and diminished traffic lanes through Nob Hill. This has the appearance
(and impact) of creating a second-tier bus system for those who are most transit-dependent. This is unacceptable to me and I’ve expressed my concerns with the administration. I hope we can find a resolution before this project is completed.
Can Council stop ART?
I came into office in December of 2015, six months after local funding for the project was approved by the Council and Mayor.
After almost 40 hours of meetings and study on the project, I learned that community meetings were not planned until after the Federal project funding was approved.
I found this unacceptable so I hosted
my own meeting with residents to address their concerns, and set up my own online feedback form to hear directly from residents. It was emailed to more than 3,000 residents in the District. I was the only councilor to do this because I feel that many
in the community felt that they wanted greater input in the process. To date, I’ve received more than 100 individual questions about the project and I’ve posted them, and the answers,
online. That benefits not only D6 residents, but everyone citywide.
Stopping the project now, after approval was granted at the request of the Mayor and by a unanimous vote of the Council, would require six councilors (enough to override
a certain Mayor’s veto) to vote to reverse their votes. Having spoken to some of the other councilors whose districts are affected by this project, I can report that there are not enough votes to do this.
Unfortunately, I think many of the early opponents of this project misunderstood the process by which ART would proceed and targeted their efforts at city council instead
of at the Mayor whose office was continuing to provide FHWA with updates and whose office will be managing this project.
Where is the Mayor on this?
This project has been run out of the Mayor’s Office from the beginning. I am disappointed that he, unlike myself and other city councilors, has not attended any of the
public forums to hear from those with remaining concerns about ART. The ART team works for the Mayor. While I appreciate the job his staff have done to present the project and summarize concerns, nothing substitutes for a personal face-to-face conversation
with constituents with real concerns.
I hope you are sharing your concerns with the Mayor as well, and I hope you join me in expressing concerns about the lack of access for transit-dependent communities to
this huge new public transit project.
Albuquerque City Councilor, District 6
505.768.3100 | patdavis@cabq.gov
Neighbors,
Some people were wondering how to contact our city officials. This information is on the city website cabq.gov or you can call 311 during business hours and ask. Here is one web address.
I can't stop myself from making a comment about the ART project. I have made a number of written comments to officials over the last couple of years about the project as I saw the announcements of meetings and online materials. My comments to them have
always centered around the details of the service. The BIG question to me is, does the City Council have a plan to allocate the operating money to fund the system for the years it will take to make it successful?
I have not heard an answer to that question. It would include a commitment to making all buses friendly and safe. The stops need to be friendly and safe as well. We have a pretty mixed bag in that area now. It will take money every year to make it great.
I think the Albuquerque Journal editorial on Sunday, February 28, had some key statements. They were
“If what’s on Central now is working so well, why are so many lots weedy and vacant, so many buildings boarded up to attract transients and trouble, so many businesses changing hands (160 in two years)?”
“And as with any project in New Mexico, the key will be successful execution.”
We may want them to make a few concessions or later modifications in the Nob Hill area, but improving the bus service would be good for us in the long run. I take the bus occasionally and find that is always convenient, often crowded, sometimes pleasant,
and sometimes scary.
Thanks,
Spencer Nelson