Transit center is closer to reality

September 2, 2010 at 3:38pm

"Stop Mortimer Street Bus Barn/Create Amtrak Inter-Modal"
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By Christine Carrie Fien

http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/news/blog/2010/09/Transit-center-i...

RGRTA is apparently hitting all its marks on its way to getting final approval from the city for a Mortimer Street transit center.

"I'm very impressed and pleased with their level of responsiveness," says City Council member Carla Palumbo.

Palumbo heads up a task force charged with overseeing the project.

Earlier this year, City Council approved a partial abandonment of Mortimer so RGRTA could build a bus station. But the approval hinged on several conditions, most having to do with public outreach. Others were resolutions of outstanding parking and security issues.

The conditions have to be met before the city engineer signs off on the project - the last step as far as the city's involvement is concerned.

Palumbo says RGRTA and her task force are working to set up a number of public design workshops from mid September through December. RGRTA will also be meeting with cyclists, downtown development representatives, people from the disabled community, project neighbors, and others.

"This is not ‘Should we move it?'" Palumbo says. "This is, ‘It's here. How do we want it to look?'"

Security - how much, what kind, and who pays - has perhaps been the biggest unresolved issue with the bus station. City Council created a security task force to oversee that element of the project.

Palumbo says she believes RGRTA has agreed to provide security inside the bus station and around the perimeter. It is unclear what form that security would take, but a member of the task force says that both cameras and a private security force would be used.

"I think the discussion is still ongoing between the cops and the security task force," Palumbo says.

"Stop Mortimer Street Bus Barn/Create Amtrak Inter-Modal"
http://bit.ly/bgUGuy

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