Vallejo bus station project shows new signs of life

Vallejo bus station project shows new signs of life
By JESSICA A. YORK/Times-Herald staff writer
Article Launched: 08/01/2008 07:50:45 AM PDT

Ground could be broken for Vallejo's planned waterfront transportation hub as early as the end of March.

The first stage of the project, known as the Vallejo Station, is a bus transit depot. It will include a 12-bay bus shelter and a two-story, 4,500-square-foot administrative building and will cost an estimated $6.3 million, city staff said.

The project's conceptual design is slated for Design Review Board consideration on Aug. 11. With subsequent City Council approval, city staff will work up the final project plan and begin advertising for bids.

"Conceptual is like ideas, basically tying down ideas - 'This is what we're going to build,' " said Sam Kumar, a city engineer and the project manager. "The conceptual (plan) will have most of it. Getting into the nitty-gritty details is where we have full-blown design."

The proposed nautically themed bus station will sit where a parking lot between Santa Clara and Sacramento streets now exists, said Public Works Director Gary Leach. The site will be an extension of York Street, with entrances on both sides of the station, he added.

The project's second phase will include a multifloor parking garage across from the existing ferry terminal.

The two parts of the project were separated so the city could get working on the facility, Kumar said.

"We're anxious to get moving on this," Leach said. "We've had the money for this, including state and federal funding. There are no hard deadlines (for that funding, (but) our funding partners want to see us get moving."

Waterfront developing partner Joseph Callahanof Callahan-DeSilva said Vallejo Station and particularly the parking garage are integral to other area development.

"We basically can't do anything until the garage is built," Callahan said. "I'm frustrated by the fact that we've put more than 10 years into the project and we haven't got anything under way."

Callahan conceded that the project is generating a large amount of public interest and comes at a time when city staffing level is lower than usual - both time-consuming issues.

The bus station will include some limited parking spaces in an attempt to mitigate the gap between the parking lot loss and the new parking garage's construction, Kumar said.

The bulk of the costs for the transit center will be born by Regional Measure 2 funds, the federal Ferry Boat Discretionary program and Federal Transit Administration funds, Kumar said. State Transportation for Livable Communities and State Transportation Improvement Program funds, city bond money and city Redevelopment Agency funds are also paying about 10 percent of the project costs, Kumar said.

More information on Vallejo Station can be found online at www.vallejostation.com

• Contact Jessica A. York at 553-6834 or at jyork@thnewsnet.com