City Partnerships Eyeing Public Transit Expansion

Montrose, CO — With the goal of improving public transit for decades to come, the City of Montrose has partnered with All Points Transit to facilitate the relocation and expansion of their transit center, currently located on South Second Street in downtown Montrose, to a new location on North Park Avenue, just off the San Juan Bypass. 

All Points Transit is a non-profit organization based in Montrose that serves communities throughout Montrose County, including the West End, as well as Delta, San Miguel, and Ouray counties.

The project will most likely take three years to complete, according to City Manager Bill Bell. The end result will be a new and modern transit hub for providing public transportation services within Montrose and connecting communities across the region. 

All Points Transit, in partnership with the City of Montrose and the Colorado Department of Transportation, is looking to utilize city-owned property on the southwest corner of the San Juan Bypass and Park Avenue for the new transit center. The property currently sits vacant and was the city's former green waste collection site. 

A vacant building located at 931 North Park Avenue, which adjoins the proposed site, has been deemed structurally unsound and has been scheduled for demolition this year to make room for the new transit hub. 

After evaluating the condition of the building and performing an assessment of regulated building materials, it was determined that the most cost-effective method for creating a usable structure was to demolish the existing building and design and build a new transportation structure on the site.

The city intends to acquire contractor services for the abatement of regulated building materials, including asbestos, in the existing structures and consider proposals for salvaging of the metal materials. Demolition of the existing site concrete and small structures will be accomplished by city crews. Jim Scheid, the city’s public works manager, said the city will begin this year to contract out services to remove asbestos before demolition begins. 

The new transit center is intended to give All Points Transit room to expand as the community’s transit needs continue to grow and to accommodate regional transit operations such as CDOT’s Bustang rider, which currently runs from Grand Junction to Durango and plans to add a route to Gunnison in the future. 

“The proposed transit center site is a great fit given the access off of the San Juan Bypass and we are excited to help support local and regional transit options for our residents," City Engineer Scott Murphy said. 

All Points Transit began as Montrose County Senior Citizens Transportation in 1989, ferrying elderly and disabled residents to doctor's appointments, providing meal delivery, and other essential services throughout Montrose. 

Since then, All Points has been responsible for transportation services within Montrose County, including to and from the communities of Montrose, Olathe, Nucla, Naturita, Norwood, Paradox, Bedrock, and Redvale. In 2008 All Points expanded to serve Delta County including Delta, Cedaredge, Hotchkiss, Paonia, Orchard City, and Crawford.

Over the 30 years since its creation, growing demand prompted the addition of the Montrose City Bus, launched in 2010, to serve as a daily bus service throughout the community. 

The door-to-door dial-a-ride service is available throughout the service area on a pre-scheduled basis. All Points Transit's buses and routes are open to anyone and specialize in serving older adults and persons with disabilities. 

"All Points Transit provides a critical community service to Montrose and our neighboring cities throughout the region," Bell said. "It's imperative we work with them, along with CDOT, to develop a new transit center to ensure All Points has the foundation to continue to provide this service for the next 50 years."

According to All Points Transit Director Sarah Curtis, in a normal year, All Points delivers about 80,000 trips per year, on average.

"In 2020, we delivered roughly 50 percent of that, due to the COVID19 Pandemic," Curtis said. 

Curtis said All Points staff and its board of directors are thrilled with this opportunity to partner with the City of Montrose and the Colorado Department of Transportation to create a multi-modal transportation hub in Montrose.

"This facility will serve as a safe and convenient place for passengers to make connections between services and travel throughout the region," Curtis said. "The administrative facility will allow All Points Transit to continue to improve our call center, ticketing, information sharing, and trip planning services, helping residents and visitors alike to navigate all of the available transportation services in our region." 

More information about this project will be released once it becomes available.

For more information about All Points Transit and their services visit www.allpointstransit.com.

For more city news visit CityOfMontrose.org.

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