Sun Metro upgrades bus stops
August 3, 2009
Northeast should begin to see work on new shelters beginning in November
Written by Aileen B. Flores , The El Paso Times
EL PASO -- As temperatures reached 100 degrees, Leslie Williams, 51, waited for the bus on Sun Metro's Route 35 at a corner of Tyler Avenue and Dyer Street last week.
Williams travels five miles to go grocery shopping once or twice a week at Albertsons, 9111 Dyer.
The waiting is not too bad because buses are frequent, she said. But standing in the heat makes her despair.
"Yes! We need improvements. More shelters would be nice, especially during the summer," she said.
It's been fo ur years since Williams sold her car. She now uses public transportation, which she said is convenient for her.
Williams said she stopped worrying about gas prices and car repairs and now she spends only $10 for a monthly pass. However, she would like to see more express routes that can take her directly to her destinations.
At a recent community meeting, Sun Metro Director of Mass Transit Jay Banasiak said Sun Metro would spend $4.5 million on bus stop improvements this year.
Banasiak said Sun Metro would build 200 new bus shelters around the city.
"The Northeast corridor (Dyer Street) will get a pretty good representation of these shelters," he said.
Sun Metro will install 20 to 40 new bus shelters with message boards and trash receptacles in Northeast El Paso, Banasiak said.
Bus riders will start noticing the changes in late November, he added.
Banasiak said the new shaded bus stops would be part of a series of improvements in the city's public transportation system
that will affect Northeast riders.Sun Metro spokeswoman Laura Cruz-Acosta said Sun Metro was planning more express routes throughout the city. Right now, Route 42 offers a direct connection from Downtown to the Northgate terminal on Diana and Joe Herrera streets.
In May, the City Council approved spending $2.7 million to buy seven acres that housed the former Furr's supermarket behind NorthPark Mall to build a modern Sun Metro transfer center. Federal money will be used to build the new terminal.
The building, on Wren Street, will be demolished and turned into a park-and-ride center with room for about 12 buses, covered passenger areas and restrooms.
Cruz-Acosta said the city finalized the land purchase last week. The next step is to search for an architect and a contractor, she said.
City officials expect a groundbreaking ceremony late this year or early 2010. The new Northeast terminal is expected to be completed by fall 2010.
Aileen B. Flores may be reached at aflores@elpasotimes.com;546-6362.
Fair Use Notice
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.