By Blake Driver, Reporter for Albuquerque Business First:

One possible outcome of the city’s plans for a rapid transit bus system on Central avenue is that small business owners in the corridor may get a seat at the planning table from now on.

While the City Council gets ready to vote next Monday to accept federal funds for Albuquerque Rapid Transit’s construction— and it’s expected to — it will also soon get the chance to decide on the creation of a transit advisory board made up of nine business owners from different segments of the proposed rapid transit route between Coors Boulevard in the West and Tramway Road in the east.

The ordinance to create the board, which was sponsored by Westside CouncilorKen Sanchez and Northeast Heights Councilor Brad Winter, was amended at Monday night’s Finance and Government Operations Committee meeting to include two merchant representatives from Louisiana Boulevard and the Uptown area — a request from District 7 Councilor Diane Gibson. The 11 members would be appointed to the board by the mayor and the council. The full council will vote on the bill at its April 18 meeting.

Steve Schroeder, Nob Hill Music owner and treasurer of ART opposition advocacy group Save Route 66 Central, spoke at the meeting in favor of keeping the board limited to business owners on Central.

“The Uptown people have not been involved in this impact. They haven’t been in the public meetings,” he told the five-member committee. “It’s like when you’re fighting a fire, you want really experienced people…This has to be in a bigger picture, which is Albuquerque, so I can see why we would want to include other people, but in terms of planning just what this little piece is, in this big city, I think the people that are directly involved would be more important.”

Sanchez said the added merchant reps would be beneficial on connectivity issues since ART will have an Uptown arm, and the area serves a large bus ridership. He acknowledged Schroeder’s work on the bill and suggested that, if the board is created, he serve on a seat.

“We need involvement from people who have businesses along that corridor that really know what the complexities are about what’s going to happen,” he said.

Sanchez said he owns an accounting firm on West Central and understands how an advisory board might be a good way for the business community to stay engaged with City Council on big transit projects.

“I just feel it’s important that we’re engaged and involved and that the business community is engaged through this entire process,” he said. Click here to read the full article.