CU picks site for bus station, seeks stimulus dollars

City Utilities has pinpointed a downtown site for a new bus transfer facility and is in the process of applying for stimulus dollars to help pay for it, CU officials told the Board of Public Utilities on Thursday.

CU has been working to relocate its downtown bus station - currently at McDaniel Street and Patton Avenue - for several years, a process delayed by funding hurdles and other scrapped downtown projects.

After looking at about 25 sites a few months ago, the utility has settled on a three-parcel site in the 501-519 block of East St. Louis Street, across from the Discovery Center, according to CU Communications Manager Joel Alexander. Contingency contracts totaling $815,000 are in place for two of the parcels, and negotiations are under way to purchase the third. That final piece could come together within a few weeks, he said.

Two storefront businesses are in the existing structure on the land, and CU will consider whether to incorporate the building into the transfer facility during the design phase, Alexander said.

CU already has received about $3.1 million in federal grants for the new facility, which officials estimate will cost about $5 million. Alexander said CU intends to apply for about $2.9 million in federal economic stimulus money tabbed for transit services; that money would be split between the new bus station and expansion of the vehicle maintenance facility at Boonville Avenue and Division Street.

The Ozarks Transportation Organization is slated to vote on CU's stimulus application in April, and the Board of Public Utilities would then need to authorize CU General Manager John Twitty to formally apply for the grant by July 1, Alexander said.

"(The stimulus) fit in very well and very timely with what we're needing to do here," Alexander said.

A new bus station is necessary to accommodate a fleet of larger buses CU plans to purchase that can't navigate the narrow streets near the current facility, Alexander said. The facility also is land-locked and unable to expand. The new station will have loading areas, indoor passenger amenities and office space for transit staff.