By Blake Driver, Reporter for Albuquerque Business First:

The Albuquerque City Council voted 7-2 to fund Albuquerque Rapid Transit last night 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 a bus rapid transit system on Central Avenue.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen, at least for me, an issue that’s been so controversial, and it’s really hard not to support federal money coming into the district,” said District 4 Councilor Brad Winter, speaking about the council’s rejection, after much discussion, to delay the vote for a later meeting.

“I did go to Cleveland. I saw the excitement that it caused and the benefit to economic development there, and this is a rare opportunity, and we need to take it. We need to be bold, and I think we need to seize this important step for the future of our community,” said District 9 Councilor Don Harris, who co-sponsored the resolution with District 1 Councilor Ken Sanchez.

“I cannot turn these dollars away, because I know some of these dollars will be going to the West Central area that has been a blighted community for over 20 years,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez reminded the crowd that ART’s construction alone could spur economic development with at least 1,000 construction jobs.

The council bucked custom when it decided to vote on accepting federal funds before Congress has officially approved them in President Obama’s 2017 budget. According to District 6 Councilor Pat Davis, the vote was fast-tracked because businesses he’s been in contact with have been anxious to know the outcome of this funding initiative in order to move forward with business plans, such as purchasing or other contracts that might be affected by construction or implementation of the line. Click here to read the full article.