The WSDOT Park and Ride is located at the intersection of Mellen Street and Old, Airport Road in Centralia.
The WSDOT Park and Ride is located at the intersection of Mellen Street and Old, Airport Road in Centralia.
The WSDOT Park and Ride is located at the intersection of Mellen Street and Old, Airport Road in Centralia.
Twin Transit is gearing up to release significant proposals in the coming months to change how it serves the Twin Cities.
Members of the public will have the chance to voice their input at as many as three informational meetings next month, but some details, while not yet set in stone, are becoming known through the course of public meetings. Among the items approved Tuesday morning by the Twin Transit Advisory Board was continued pursuit of property at the intersection of North National Avenue and Northeast Median Street previously home to a Burger King that burned down around the turn of the century.
Twin Transit would pay $145,000 for the property, subject to ongoing review and feasibility of use. It would serve as one of the four hubs for a proposed “racetrack” loop designed to connect riders with the four corners of the Lewis Public Transit Benefit Area. The other potential locations aren’t finalized yet, though Twin Transit Director Joe Clark said Centralia College will almost certainly be one.
An outside appraiser is expected to finish his analysis of four Twin Transit properties, including the vacant lot on North Pearl Street that was previously earmarked for a multimillion dollar transit center, next week.
“We want everything on our routes to fit within a 30 minute window,” Clark said. “That’s what we’re gearing towards.”
Agency staff have been working internally for months to revamp their system of bus routes as well as with stakeholders from Centralia and Chehalis on enhancing amenities such as park and ride facilities. Use of the park and ride on Mellen Street will be a central aspect of Twin Transit’s plan to use Airport Road as a way to increase route efficiency.
Clark said during Tuesday’s meeting that a chance encounter with Judy Perez, a Multimodal Systems Planner for the Washington State Department of Transportation, led to a change in the design for the park-and-ride that will result in significant cost savings while making it easier for bus drivers to navigate.
The lot is now expected to have a couple of bus shelters on raised islands in the middle of the property. Bus traffic will drive down the old Airport Road off Mellen Street, enter the south end of the lot and loop back through to pick up passengers. Initial plans called for a raised sidewalk to the west of the parking lot, but Perez informed Clark at a meeting of transit leaders that it would impact the floodplain and suggested the concrete islands as an alternative.
“Right now we’re thinking we’ll just have to build the islands and the shelters,” Clark said. “They’ve already done the (American with Disabilities Act) accommodations and all of that. We’ve got a meeting with WSDOT on (Sept. 5) and after that we’ll have a better idea of what they expect. We’re not sure yet if there will be drainage updates or other modifications needed.”
Twin Transit also plans to hire a full-time training and safety officer in the near future. Clark cited a number of reasons for doing so during Tuesday’s board meeting, including the need to better train bus drivers in the event they encounter a dangerous passenger as well as to bring Twin Transit up to standards set by Washington State Department of Labor and Industries.
“I would venture our drivers have never been trained in those procedures,” Clark said. “We’re going to have that person go out to schools this coming year and do trainings with the kids so they understand the differences between our buses and the yellow ones and how to be safe around them. We’re tightening some things up that have gotten a bit lax.”
