An Albuquerque city councilor is urging Congress to change federal rules so cities can fix flawed transit projects like the Rapid Transit line without risking costly penalties, as Central Avenue businesses struggle.
Councilor Louie Sanchez wants federal grant rules overhauled in the 2025 transportation bill, saying the Albuquerque Rapid Transit (ART) bus line is doing more harm than good. Business owners along the city’s stretch of Route 66 blame ART’s design — especially limited left-turn access — for lost customers and a wave of vacancies.
Sanchez said current law could force Albuquerque to repay up to $100 million in federal “clawbacks” if it makes major changes to the project, even if the goal is to fix problems. Without more flexibility, he warned, Central Avenue could continue to decline just as Route 66’s centennial approaches.
“We’re seeing a lot of doors closed, a lot of businesses have closed their doors,” Sanchez said. “One of the constituents brought to my attention that he had gone down Central and counted 150 businesses that were closed on Route 66, this same individual was wanting to enjoy the celebration for the centennial of Route 66 and instead, he was worried that we’re not doing enough on Central to make it look like a celebration.”
Sanchez outlined the problem in a letter to New Mexico’s congressional delegation. Under current rules in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act and a 2010 memo from the Council on Environmental Quality, cities that make major changes — like adding more left-turn options — risk disqualifying a project and triggering full repayment of the grant.
He said that’s exactly the issue with ART, where the lack of turn access makes it harder for customers to reach shops and restaurants. Sanchez wants Congress to update the rules so cities can make meaningful improvements without losing federal support.
Sanchez will host a community town hall July 10 at the Patrick J. Baca Library at 8081 Central Ave. NW to hear from residents and business owners affected by the project.
The ART problem (for some)
For many businesses along Central Avenue, the Albuquerque Rapid Transit line hasn’t delivered the boost city leaders promised. Instead, shop owners blame limited access, rising crime and fewer customers for the corridor’s decline just as the Route 66 centennial approaches.
Sanchez said blight and crime have worsened on the west end of the ART corridor, with incidents including a fatal stabbing on a bus near 63rd Street and an officer-involved shooting at a stop near 60th Street. He said these problems are pushing businesses away and deepening the area’s decay.
He said Central is the longest urban stretch of Route 66 and a major tourist draw for Albuquerque. With the centennial coming, Sanchez warned the city could miss a once-in-a-generation chance to turn the corridor into a national destination.
“Unfortunately, the current state of the roadway encourages travelers to only pass through the area as they are fearful to stop and patronize existing businesses,” Sanchez said in the letter to New Mexico’s congressional delegation. “If the issue with left turn access is not addressed in the next year, we will have lost the one and only opportunity to make Central Avenue a national tourist destination.”
What was meant to revitalize West Central is now blamed for vacancies, economic decline and a loss of neighborhood vitality. Sanchez said business owners have voiced concerns about ART since he took office.
“The whole time I’ve been a city councilor, I have heard numerous business owners tell me the ART project is not enhancing their business at all. It’s actually taking away,” Sanchez said.
He pointed to recent violence near the corridor, including the stabbing and officer-involved shooting, as signs the project may be doing more harm than good, falling short of its goal to improve the city.
The ART bus line runs mostly in a dedicated lane along Central Avenue, allowing left turns only every third to half mile. While this design keeps buses moving, it makes it harder for drivers to reach local businesses.
A driver heading east who wants to visit a shop on the north side of Central must pass it, find a U-turn up to half a mile away, wait for the light, turn around, and double back — just to reach the parking lot.
Business owners say the limited access has driven customers away. Some property owners worry tenants will leave for locations that offer easier access, making it harder to maintain buildings and worsening conditions along the corridor.
Zoning along Central was updated to encourage dense, mixed-use development near transit. But without easy access for both drivers and riders, potential projects are going elsewhere, undercutting efforts to revitalize the corridor and expand affordable housing.
Angelica Ramirez, owner of Nutrition Avenue Protein Bar, said ART has made it harder for customers to reach her shop because they can’t turn directly into the lot.
“People tell me it takes almost five minutes just to turn [at the street light] and get here,” Ramirez said. “If I want to go to a store at Central and Atrisco, I have to drive way up there and [make a U-turn], come back down. It’s hard for me.”
Before ART was built, she said, it was much easier for customers to pull in, which made it easier to attract new business.
“It was easier for me to get more clients,” she said. “My customers used to only go to the easy places where they can go fast and just come here.”
Ramirez said most of her customers drive and none use the ART bus.
Other business owners and customers City Desk Abq spoke with raised similar concerns.
While the concerns exist, there have been positives for ART.
In late June, ART celebrated a significant milestone: 10 million rides.
The system, which operates primarily along Central Avenue, provides over 2 million rides annually, accounting for approximately 30% of ABQ RIDE’s total ridership according to the City of Albuquerque.
After initial controversy and disruption during its construction, ART has been recognized by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy as a Gold Standard BRT system, the highest international ranking.
“ART has become a permanent part of Central, moving millions of people across our city,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “We’ve worked hard to make it a productive system, even after early challenges that began before I took office. Today, it connects neighborhoods, supports businesses and jobs, and has some of the strongest ridership in the country.”
City officials said ART’s benefits extend beyond transportation, connecting the city, facilitating access to popular locations for students and residents, and attracting significant development.
“As a longtime ART champion and rider, I’ve seen firsthand the positive effect of this investment,” City Councilor Joaquin Baca said. “Year after year, ridership has increased, and it is the gold standard for rapid transit in the United States. In my district, which lies in the heart of the ART corridor, we have experienced the beneficial ripple effects throughout the community.”
The regulatory straitjacket
Fixing ART’s design flaws isn’t as simple as tweaking a few intersections. Despite growing frustration from business owners and city leaders, federal rules tied to the project’s funding make major changes nearly impossible without risking huge financial penalties.
The ART line was funded mostly through a Small Starts grant under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. It received an environmental categorical exclusion, which let the project skip a full review but now limits the city’s ability to make adjustments. Under federal rules, any change that alters a project’s function—like adding more left-turn bays—can trigger disqualification and a clawback of up to $100 million.
“It is just not possible to address these issues under current federal transportation regulations,” Sanchez said in the letter.
Federal guidelines from the Council on Environmental Quality and the Federal Transit Administration only allow revisions that don’t affect how a project works.
More left turns could be seen as slowing down bus service, which would count as a functional change. Meanwhile, changes that are allowed — like affordable housing or zoning updates — have already been done, but haven’t solved the access problem.
Sanchez said the next federal transportation bill should give cities more flexibility to adjust projects after they’re built. He said that would help communities fix real-world problems, improve outcomes and make better use of federal dollars. It could also generate best practices for future projects and encourage more cities to seek federal funding.
Get involved
Sanchez will host a community town hall to hear directly from residents, businesses and property owners about the impact of the ART line on West Central Avenue. City Council staff will be on hand to gather feedback on how ART has affected the area over the past five years.
What: District 1 Community Town Hall on ART’s Impact
When: 5:30 to 7 p.m., Thursday, July 10
Where: Patrick J. Baca Library, 8081 Central Ave. NW
Who: Open to all residents, businesses, property owners and community groups in District 1 and beyond.
Contact: bmaceachen@cabq.gov
Email Councilor Louie Sanchez: lesanchez@cabq.gov
Contact New Mexico’s congressional delegation to support or oppose flexible federal grant rules in the 2025 transportation bill.
- Rep. Gabe Vasquez
Albuquerque Office: (505) 208-4777
- Rep. Melanie Stansbury
Albuquerque Office: (505) 346-6781
- Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández
Santa Fe Office: (505) 428-4680
- Sen. Martin Heinrich
Albuquerque Office: (505) 346-6601
- Sen. Ben Ray Luján
Albuquerque Office: (505) 337-7023
lujan.senate.gov/contact/contact-form
What an opinionated and terrible article. “Fixing ART’s design flaws…” They are not design flaws. Limiting left turns is gold standard design. “Meanwhile, changes that are allowed — like affordable housing or zoning updates — have already been done”. Really? Upzoning literally just happened only last year (ordinance O-69) and it is extremely limited. Please learn more about the issue before writing propaganda for a corrupt campaign.
The business whose owner you interviewed has no Google reviews, hours of operations, or photos. It is on a strip mall behind a sea of parking, and is barely marked. Maybe people can’t find it for reasons other than ART? Meanwhile not a single ART rider was interviewed.
Two violent acts that occurred on Central don’t have anything to do with the presence of a frequent bus line…
It has to do with longtime divestment from the area. You can’t make a single positive change to a divested area and have it immediately turn into a haven of peace and tranquility. But if you continue to make positive changes and incentivize development and growth, it will become an economic and cultural hub.
Busses aren’t dangerous, they reduce injuries and traffic accidents.
This is the most irresponsible “reporting” I’ve seen in awhile. Claims by the councilor were stated as fact without any research into whether his claims were true. If you look at other thriving parts of the ART corridor like Nob Hill, it should be clear that ART isn’t the problem. And if the author/councilor actually cared about safety, they would have noted that pedestrian fatalities declined significantly as a result of this project.
West Central has struggled with economic challenges well before ART. However, it’s easier for the councilor (and apparently the biased author of this article, who appears to be working for his mayoral campaign?) to find an easy scapegoat instead of trying to address the fundamental issues.