Construction on a $3-million transit terminal at Clearwater Arena is nearly done.
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When streetlight poles get installed, it should be ready to open, city engineering and operations general manager David Jackson said.
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“We’ll have an update from our contractor this week on those supplies (and) we’re hoping (the new terminal) will be generally complete by the end of the year,” he said.
Construction started this summer on the project at the arena and neighboring park, where the city is also renovating for a libraryand for which a master plan is in the works.
“Every project we have streetlight poles and those kind of manufactured pieces have long lead times, so that’s really all (the delay) is,” Jackson said.
Tea bus terminal upgrade that’s been recommended since 2014 is designed to replace a more crowded location for transfers on Murphy Road, allowing more room for buses, break space for drivers, and more safety, city officials have said.
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Bus shelters also still are missing from the Clearwater upgrade, but they can be installed after the new terminal opens, Jackson said.
“There’s much more room for pedestrians and a much nicer layout for the operators, the buses … we’re eager to get in there,” he said.
Up next is the downtown Bayside terminal in 2024, another project that’s been eyed for years but waited for the recent Bayside mall demolition“to see what space we could then utilize and how that could fit in,” Jackson said.
The terminal’s design is similar to Clearwater’s, but smaller, he said.
“That central island, just upgrading what’s there, making it much nicer looking.”
Aims are to tender and build the project next year, he said.
There’s $2.1 million for it in the city’s draft budget headed to council for deliberations Dec. 5.
Both projects are nearly three-quarters funded using parts of $28 million in federal infrastructure grant money the city received in 2019.
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