By David Wilson, DWilson@WVRadio.com
MORGANTOWN — In an effort to address concerns raised by Morgantown residents, including a lack of bus shelters downtown, a meeting is scheduled for Friday between Mountain Line Transit Authority and the city manager.
Concerns were voiced again by two residents, who spoke during the public portion of the Jan. 8 city council meeting, expressing disappointment at a lack of bus shelters in the downtown area and frustration over changes to the bus routes and schedules since Mountain Line was forced to move its depot from Garrett Street, along Monongahela River to Westover.
“We’re going to sit down and look at some of these locations and hopefully try to figure out a plan to move forward and work together and put these shelters in place,” Mountain Line Transit Authority Executive Director Dave Bruffy said on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town.”
The transit authority learned in October 2017 the city wanted it out of the Garrett Street structure ahead of a $4 million project to overhaul the riverfront. After a rushed search for a replacement facility came up empty, the transit authority voted in January to move operations to its Westover hub.
During the transition, Bruffy warned a lack of shelters was an issue that needed to be resolved. Previously, riders caught the bus at the downtown depot and had a facility where they could get out of the weather to wait on the bus, Bruffy said.
Nine locations were identified around town for bus shelters, but the transit authority cannot erect a shelter on its own.
“We need someone from city engineering, and probably the police department, to take a look at it and make certain line-of-sight is OK and were not blocking traffic,” Bruffy said. “We have to make certain there’s a curb-cut there, that is a safe place to stop because we’re actually in a traffic lane, that it’s not an impediment to other functions in the area where we put those in.”
Bruffy said he looked forward to the meeting and remained hopeful it signals the start of a cooperative effort between the city and transit authority.
Initially, City Manager Paul Brake told council he spoke with key department directors and the city would form a task force to assist with the transition. Brake identified in-kind services, pursuing grant applications with Mountain Line and possibly setting aside funds in the budget, all as part of the move from the downtown depot.
The city has yet to come through on those initiatives.
“There weren’t any specific pieces put in place like contracts or agreements or budget allocations. We didn’t see anything like that,” Bruffy said. “The timing hopefully will work out now. The city is in its budget process and we’ll see some movement in that respect.”
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