Transit center design approved

By BRIAN WALKER

Staff Writer

COEUR d'ALENE — The plan to develop a permanent transit center in Kootenai County continues to move forward.

The Board of County Commissioners on Monday unanimously approved the design of the center that will be constructed at the existing temporary dirt hub in Riverstone.

The project is scheduled to go out to bid in July. Construction is expected to start this fall and wrap up in May 2019.

Jody Bieze, Kootenai County's Grants Management Office director who was the chairperson of the design advisory committee that made the recommendation to commissioners, said the design will fit well with the site that is 7 feet higher at the northeast corner than the southwest corner.

"The center will interface with the parking lots," said Bieze, referring to how the building and shelters will divide the parking areas.

The waiting area of the center will be outside but covered and glass-enclosed. Some residents had concerns that an indoor waiting area would be a magnet for the homeless population to hang out.

"This is an excellent compromise," said Dan Gookin, a Coeur d'Alene City Council member and a member of the design committee. "This is one notch under an indoor lobby that can still be heated and lit."

The design committee also included representatives from public transit stakeholder entities Post Falls, Hayden, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe and Kootenai County. It met twice before the design was recommended to the commissioners. Two different concepts were discussed. The other design proposed placement of the building at the north end of the site with all the parking to the south.

The 2,500-square-foot transit center building will include a break room for drivers, a dispatch area, training area for drivers, office space, storage, restrooms, security cameras and possibly bike lockers.

The design for Phase 1, which is expect to cost about $2 million, also includes outdoor restrooms, bus lanes and 81 parking spots. Another parking area will be added in the future.

The county last fall tapped Coffman Engineers and ALSC Architects for the project.

The center has been more than three years in the making since the property was purchased.

All the money has been secured for the first phase, which will be paid for with $1.6 million in Federal Transit Administration funds and $400,000 in matching funds from the county and other local jurisdictions.

There are an average of 11,073 total rides on the urban routes of Citylink each month. The system serves Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls, Hayden, Dalton Gardens and Huetter.

Bieze said her department regularly gets requests from residents hoping the transit center will eventually be tied in with the Spokane Transit Authority, but making that a reality would require approval from county commissioners.