By Rodolfo Trujillo
Student bus riders will have a central place to wait for the bus. With all the focus on building parking structures for driving students, bus riders will get their due soon. Completion was originally estimated for early 2011, but now looks as if it will be done by either late spring or early summer 2012.
The City of Monterey Park will begin construction next week on the Transit Center in a city-owned property. It is located between the Center for Performing and Fine Arts and the parking structure currently being built on the corner of Floral Drive and Collegian Avenue.
The Transit Center will be a place for people and buses to wait for one another. Prior to the massive construction that began on campus, buses formally stopped on Collegian Ave. while waiting for students to get out of class and fill the buses. There were only a few benches for bus riders and it caused congestion and difficulty for drivers to see if someone was crossing behind their bus.
According to Amy Ho, Transportation Manager for Monterey Park, the Transit Center will be a U-shaped driveway with room for busses to pass and park. She estimates that the school will be served by Metro Transportation Authority bus No.s 30, 31 and 68, while the Montebello Bus Line’s No. 10 bus be accommodated for.
The Monterey Park Spirit will have the small section at the end of the U for its No.s 5 and 2 buses. It has not been determined yet if the bus that drives students to the South Gate campus will operate from there. The participating bus lines, the City of Monterey Park and East Los Angeles College were all involved in the planning, said Ho.
The Safe Accountable Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users project is a federally funded grant that was signed into law in 2005.
The project will cost over $1 million, said Ho. The name of the construction company awarded the bid was not available at press time.