A proposed Entertainment District would be located at the innovation cooridor northwest corner of 1st Street and Central Avenue. Pictured in a rendering. Courtesy City of Albuquerque
Both the rapid transit project and the pedestrian overpass are designed to make Central more accessible.
Doyle said that easing the connection between the Alvarado Transportation Center, Albuquerque Convention Center, and other points east would remove a major impediment to “seamless” economic development in the innovation corridor.
The overall project was originally estimated at about $20 million — designed to make it easier for pedestrians to move from several Downtown destinations to EDo — including the Innovate ABQ site at Central and Broadway Boulevard — a collaboration between the city and UNM that forms the locus of the emerging Innovation Corridor.
Meanwhile, the Albuquerque City Council voted 7-2 on March 21 to fund Albuquerque Rapid Transit with federal dollars — before the money has been approved by Congress. After more than four hours of public comment and deliberation, the council decided not to postpone a resolution to authorize the city’s use of a $69 million Small Starts grant from the Federal Transit Administration for the construction of the bus rapid transit system up and down Central.
Both the rapid transit project and the pedestrian overpass are designed to make Central more accessible, and they make up two important elements in Rio Metro’s long-term strategic vision to leverage a multimodal transportation system to spur economic development.
By: Blake Driver (Albuquerque Business First)
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