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Stimulus funds put bus station back on track in Butler
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A stalled effort to bring a new bus station to Butler has been jump-started by an infusion of federal stimulus funds.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has authorized the use of $5.34 million for the first phase of a transit center in the Pullman Center redevelopment area, according to John Paul, executive director of the Butler Transit Authority.
"It's great news. We've had a lot of disappointments along the way, but we've been persistent and now we're rolling," he said.
The money will come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the federal stimulus fund.
Bids will be sought and contracts awarded this summer, followed by construction in the fall, Mr. Paul said. The project is expected to be complete within a year. It will include a 7,000-square-foot office building, a maintenance and wash bay building and a storage area for the authority's buses and the Butler County Area Rural Transit, or BART, shared-ride buses.
During the second phase, the storage area will be enclosed, a lobby/waiting area will be created to support connections with local transit, and a park-n-ride lot will be built.
"I have funding applications in on that," Mr. Paul said, noting that no time frame exists for the second phase.
He said he believed that the federal allocation would be enough money to finish the first phase. Earth work at the seven-acre site on Hansen Avenue, formerly owned by Pullman-Standard, has been done, and Mr. Paul said he had accrued another $2.4 million in previously committed federal and state money.
The transit authority currently leases space from Butler Motor Transit in Butler.
First Published May 14, 2009 5:33 am
