New hub to help Vallejo riders get on bus

New hub to help Vallejo riders get on bus
By Sarah Rohrs/Times-Herald staff writer
Posted: 08/09/2009 12:30:21 AM PDT

The city's new bus transfer station is meant to make waiting for the bus in downtown Vallejo a safer and more pleasant experience, officials said.

A ground-breaking ceremony for the project takes place at 10 a.m. Monday in the public parking lot behind the Georgia Vista Center at Sacramento and York streets.

Guest speakers include Vallejo Mayor Osby Davis, and representatives from the Solano Transportation Authority, Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the office of Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez.

The transfer station is the first phase of the Vallejo Station Intermodal Facility, a three-story parking garage at Santa Clara and Maine streets, with retail shops among a pedestrian paseo connecting this downtown bus terminal to the ferry terminal.

Vallejo Station, in turn, is part of the waterfront development plan meant to inject new life in the downtown and waterfront areas.

Downtown Vallejo's existing bus transfer station is now spread out among the York and Marin street intersections and is not considered ideal for either buses or riders. Riders have few bus shelters or other amenities and often need to cross busy streets to make bus connections, city staff have said. Some riders and drivers have complained the area can be unsafe.

The new transfer center will move the buses closer to the ferry building and consolidate buses into a smaller area with better lighting and security. Buses will circulate in two directions around a central passenger loading island.

The new bus transfer center also will include construction of a transportation administration building to house ticket agents, public rest rooms, security and operator break room.

Construction of the transfer station is expected to begin Aug. 18 and take about 15 months to complete. Estimated cost is $8.29 million and paid for through a combination of federal grants and regional Measure 2 dollars, but no city funding, city transportation department superintendent Crystal Odum Ford said.

q Contact staff writer Sarah Rohrs at srohrs@thnewsnet.com (707) 553-6832.