CITY of ALBUQUERQUE
TWENTY SECOND COUNCIL
COUNCIL BILL NO.
C/SR-16-85
ENACTMENT NO. ________________________
SPONSORED BY: Sanchez
RESOLUTION
REQUIRING THE ADMINISTRATION TO PROVIDE AN AMENDED DESIGN AND
FINANCE PLAN FOR THE BUS RAPID TRANSIT PROJECT KNOWN AS
ALBUQUERQUE RAPID TRANSIT (ART) AND TO CONVENE A SUMMIT OF
BUSINESS AND PROPERTY OWNERS TO IDENTIFY COMMENDATIONS.
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WHEREAS, the City of Albuquerque, to improve transit service, the use of
land and commerce has planned, designed and engineered a bus rapid transit
line known as ART that will operate on Central Avenue, Louisiana Boulevard
and the Uptown Loop. The Administration intends to commence with
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construction in early August 2016 with completion scheduled by September of
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2017. As of May of 2016, the ART Project was considered fully funded for
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construction and daily operation through October of 2021; and
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WHEREAS, the current presidential administration awarded the ART Project
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a $69,000,000 Federal Transit Administration Small Starts Grant. The House of
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Representatives has proposed a $50,000,000 distribution of the grant for the
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Federal Fiscal Year 2017 budget. The remaining $19,000,000 may or may not
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be awarded in the Federal Fiscal Year 2018 Budget; and
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WHEREAS, funding the operation of the ART could be provided in several
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ways increasing fares, adjusting pass programs, absorbing the growth
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increment in gross receipts tax or a mix of the fore stated; and
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WHEREAS, the second scenario would fund ART operations with federal
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Congestion Management Air Quality (CMAQ) Funds through Federal Fiscal
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year 2021. The City was an automatic recipient of these funds due to the
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metropolitan areas designation as an air quality maintenance attainment area
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under federal Clean Air Act regulations. CMAQ funds appropriated to a State
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Department of Transportation by the Federal Government, in a state where
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there is a community under a Clean Air Act Air Quality Maintenance Plan, are
required to be to non-attainment communities. In June 2016, after decades of
designation as an air quality maintenance area the Albuquerque metropolitan
area was certified by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency as being in
full compliance with the standards of the Federal Clean Air Act and no longer
under an air quality maintenance plan. The New Mexico Department of
Transportation has informed the regional distributor of the funds, the Mid-
Region Council of Governments, that the funds will be removed from the ART
Project after federal fiscal year 2017 and distributed statewide. To receive
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these funds the City must now compete with other projects statewide; and
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WHEREAS, merchants and property owners on Central Avenue have
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expressed concerns that the design of the ART will impair commerce and
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business through the consolidation of left turn access to signalized
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intersections, the elimination of parking along some sections of the line and
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security issues related to transit service on Central Avenue. This has resulted
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in litigation and a voter initiative against the project; and
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WHEREAS, the City Council enacted Ordinance-16-12, establishing the
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Central Avenue Business Advisory Board to advise the Transit Department
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and City Council on coordinating the construction, operation and any system
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improvements of transit lines on Central with the land uses that adjoin Central
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Avenue.
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BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL, THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF
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ALBUQUERQUE:
SECTION 1. By November 1st of 2016 the Administration shall submit to
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the Albuquerque City Council the following plans for the bus rapid transit
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project known as the ART:
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1.
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described in the second and third recitals to this Resolution to fund the
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operation of the ART through City Fiscal Year 2021. If such plan changes fares
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or a pass program it shall include a recommended schedule or schedules of
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fares and pass programs that would be adopted to fund the operation of the
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Bus Rapid Transit Line known as ART.
A plan to fund the operation of ART using a mix of the scenarios
2.
parameters, including but not limited to ridership projections, service
headways, and the ART lines termini, that are listed in the Citys application
for the Federal Transit Administration Small Starts Grant if the final
$19,000,000 in Federal Small Starts Funds are not awarded.
3.
remove and add parking spaces and lists the distance between where a
parking space was removed and where the closest space was added. For
those locations where new parking is not added near where existing parking is
A plan that includes a map of where the Bus Rapid Transit/ART project will
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removed, the plan shall include recommendations for adding parking off
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Central Avenue and near the businesses where the parking was removed.
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A contingency plan that addresses the impacts on ART performance
SECTION 2. By October 1st the Central Avenue Business Advisory
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Board will convene a summit for merchants and property owners whose
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businesses or properties are located on Central Avenue between Unser and
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Louisiana Boulevard to work with the ART Project Staff to seek solutions to
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the issues identified in paragraphs two and three of this resolution and to
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address parking issues of security on the ART Busses and Stations.
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X/City Council/share/CL-Staff/Legislative Staff/Resolutions/Committee Substitute Resolutions/CS-R-16-859(a)
