www.rutlandherald.com
Transit agency plans new hub in Rockingham
By Susan Smallheer Herald Staff - Published: January 12, 2008
SPRINGFIELD — Connecticut River Transit has purchased a 41-acre parcel of land in Rockingham for its new $3.6 million public transit center.
Gary Fox, executive director of the nonprofit transit agency, said Friday that the purchase earlier this week is an important step toward construction of the new facility, which would serve the fast-growing public transit group.
The site is located on the west side of Route 5 north of Bellows Falls, near Leslie's Restaurant, and across from Sonnax Corp.
Fox said that only a small portion of the parcel — about 3.5 acres — is usable. About 2.5 acres would be used for the facility itself and one acre set aside for a park and ride facility.
The project, which is still is in the design stage, would be built thanks to $2.9 million in funding from the federal Transit Agency, a 5 percent match from the Town of Rockingham, with the balance of the funding coming from the transit agency itself.
Fox said that most of the land, which was purchased from a Rutland-based developer, includes steep cliffs and ledges that border on Interstate 91.
Fox said the agency, which started operation in 2003, has grown significantly, and that ridership has tripled in its commuter bus routes and also its in-town bus routes, such as in Springfield and Bellows Falls.
The commuter bus routes run north to the Lebanon, N.H., area and south to Brattleboro, with the most popular routes going to the Upper Valley.
Connecticut River Transit also manages the "Dial-A-Ride Program," which uses volunteer drivers to take people to medical and other appointments. Use of that program has increased from 13,662 rides in nine months in 2004 to 34,482 rides in fiscal year 2007. He said CRT manages rides for 30 towns in Windsor and Windham counties.
"Ridership growth has been pretty steady," said Fox, noting that the recent spike in fuel prices has also increased ridership.
When CRT started in 2003, it had 13 buses, and now it has 23 buses.
The new facility would not just provide an office for its 32 employees, but a garage for the bus fleet.
The Town of Rockingham had agreed to be the formal applicant for the federal funding, and as a condition of the grant, the town must provide 5 percent funding. Until recently, the town believed that that funding, about $190,000, could come in the form of in-kind work.
But recent discussions with CRT's construction manager revealed that in-kind contributions might not be that easy to utilize.
That news shocked members of the Rockingham Select Board last week, with Chairman Thomas MacPhee at the time saying he felt that the town had had "the wool pulled over its eyes."
MacPhee said Friday that the town was currently working with CRT to come up with a section of the construction project that the town could do with its highway department, to minimize any cash contribution to the project. http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008801120354
No comments :
Post a Comment
Please keep your comments polite and on-topic. No profanity