Transit center testimony plentiful
LISA JAMES/Press Kootenai County Republican Central Committee Chairman Brent Regan holds up a rotary dial phone and a smartphone as he compares the changes he is proposing to the smartphone, and the changes others are proposing to a rotary phone, or going backward, at a county commission hearing Tuesday night. The county is considering changes to Citylink bus routes and fares and building a new transit center at Riverstone.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Coeur d’Alene resident Mike Harshaw boards the C Route Citylink bus Tuesday afternoon at the temporary transit center in Riverstone.
LISA JAMES/Press A strong showing of local citizens listen to arguments for and against proposed changes to Citylink bus routes and fares, as well as the building of a new transit center at Riverstone, during a Kootenai County Comissioners hearing Tuesday night.
LISA JAMES/PressKootenai County Comissioner Marc Eberlein, center, flanked by commissioners Bob Bingham, left, and Chris Fillios, questions Brent Regan as they hear arguments Monday night for and against proposed changes to Citylink bus routes and fares, as well as the building of a new transit center at Riverstone.
LISA JAMES/Press Audience members listen to arguments for and against proposed changes to Citylink bus routes and fares, as well as the building of a new transit center at Riverstone, during a Kootenai County Comissioners hearing Tuesday night.
LISA JAMES/PressKootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger reports their findings about bus activity at a hearing Tuesday night for proposed changes to Citylink bus routes and fares and the building of a new transit center at Riverstone.
LISA JAMES/PressA strong showing of local citizens listen to arguments for and against proposed changes to Citylink bus routes and fares, as well as the building of a new transit center at Riverstone, during a Kootenai County Comissioners hearing Monday night.
LISA JAMES/PressCoeur d'Alene Police Chief Lee White reports their findings about bus activity at a hearing Tuesday night for proposed changes to Citylink bus routes and fares and the building of a new transit center at Riverstone.
By BRIAN WALKER
Staff Writer
COEUR d'ALENE — A scaled-down version of a new transit center in Riverstone seemed to be more favorable overall than one with an office building and the feel of a regional hub during a public hearing on proposed Citylink changes on Tuesday night.
"This issue is not about Citylink at all," Post Falls resident Alex Barron told Kootenai County commissioners during the hearing of more than three hours attended by about 95 at the county's Administration Building.
"The opposition is about building a Taj Mahal for government employees."
Kootenai County is proposing to build a transit center where the existing dirt parking lot for Citylink is in Riverstone.
It is also proposing adding a $1.50 fare for rides on the fixed routes in Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls and Hayden and a $3 fare for paratrasit rides. Rides to the Coeur d'Alene Casino would remain free.
Changes to routes to make the system more efficient and
cost-effective are also proposed.
Written testimony on the proposed fares, route changes and hours of operation will be accepted by county commissioners until 5 p.m. Sunday. It can be sent to khobson@kcgov.us, mailed to P.O. Box 9000, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83816 or dropped off at 451 N. Government Way.
Several attendees at Tuesday night's hearing expressed concerns the Spokane Transit Authority system or Greyhound will eventually tie into the future transit center. If that were to ever happen, they believe it would lead to heightened crime in that area.
"You are building infrastructure to make (those connections) easier," Barron said.
But Commissioner Chris Fillios said county commissioners would have to approve any such connections.
In an interview before the hearing, Brandon Rapez-Betty, STA spokesman, said a pilot project for that system to reach Idaho in 2025 is tentatively planned, but multiple levels of discussions and approvals would need to happen to make it a reality.
"We haven't had any discussions about how to connect for quite some time," he said. "To make it work, it would require sustainable transit funding on both sides and we know that's not in place in Idaho."
Post Falls' Geri Douglas said it was discouraging so much of the meeting centered on what-ifs and less on improving on what's known.
"I can't understand why there's so much speculation on something that's not even happening," she said, referring to the possible connections.
Brent Regan, chairman of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, and Paula Neils, chairwoman of the Kootenai County Democratic Central Committee, both submitted resolutions passed by their groups regarding the proposed transit center.
The KCRCC's resolution urges commissioners to suspend the planned construction "until a need for the transit center is established, the recurring costs are well-defined and the cost-to-benefit is justified." It also cited crime as a concern.
The Democrats' resolution, meanwhile, supports the transit center, including connecting with other operators, to improve the system, including for the elderly and some of the area's most vulnerable residents.
"I'm not in support of all the incivility (about the transit center) that many people have been talking about," she said.
The transit center has been discussed for several years and the county and Coeur d'Alene Tribe purchased property for it three years ago.
The first phase of the transit center is expected to go out to bid later this month with construction estimated to start in March 2018. The first phase is proposed to include about 2,500 square feet of office space, a bus pull-through area, covered seating, paved parking and security cameras.
The first phase of the transit center is estimated to cost $2,056,360. The Federal Transit Administration will fund $1,645,088 while the local match is estimated at $411,272.
Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger and Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Lee White said there are not major crime issues associated with Citylink stops under the current system. They believe the lighting and cameras at the proposed center should help deter crime in the future.
White said, if STA ever connected to the transit center, that would cause a "moment of pause" and more discussion would need to take place before he would be willing to support that move.
No one at the hearing opposed the proposed fares.
There will be discounted passes available for those with low income, seniors and people with qualifying disabilities. Citylink rides have been free since the system started more than 10 years ago.
"There is no such thing as a free ride," said Jackie Stallings, who spoke on behalf of the Idaho Commission for the Blind. "(The fares) are completely reasonable. There's no reason not to charge a fare."
Stallings added she thought it was strange to learn the rides are free when she moved here. Funding is provided by the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, Kootenai Health, federal grants and local cities that have stops, including Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls, Hayden, Dalton Gardens and Huetter.
On the route change proposals, the Post Falls route is proposed to switch to a clockwise direction and, due to rider requests, stops are proposed to be added at the senior center and food bank.
A proposed new A Route would run clockwise and cover downtown Coeur d'Alene with two stops on Hubbard Street near North Idaho College; Sherman Avenue at 16th, 21st and 23rd streets; on Ironwood in front of Shopko and the current Kootenai Health stop at 921 Ironwood.
The revised C Route (Coeur d'Alene/Dalton Gardens/Hayden) would no longer serve downtown. It would run clockwise only with new stops at Wilbur and Ramsey; Courcelles and Prairie; Government Way and Anton; Panhandle Health; Government and Hattie; Shopko and in the hospital district. The Pinegrove and Hanley stop would be eliminated.
The change option on hours and days of operation that gained the most support during the hearing was the one that proposed Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. with no Sunday service.