The long awaited Turlock Regional Transit Center will be opening this Friday, August 24th, with a grand opening ceremony beginning at 10am. The Turlock Regional Transit Center is located on the triangle property at Golden State Blvd., Hawkeye Ave., and Dels Ln.
According to City Manager Roy Wasden, Mayor John Lazar is scheduled to attend the ceremony, as well as to make comments regarding the opening of the center before the ribbon cutting commences. City Council members Amy Bublak, Mary Jackson, Bill DeHart and Forrest White were also invited to attend the ceremony.
Although the development of the Turlock Regional Transit Center did suffer from some minor delays earlier this year due to rain, the opening of the center is still occurring at a convenient time for some bus riders, as the school season recently started. The center will make traveling easier to various locations, such as in the case of Turlock students traveling to the Modesto Junior College campus.
Construction of the Turlock Regional Transit Center began last August, and was originally set to be completed by March 2012. While the completion of the project did suffer from delays due to the winter weather, the project did not hinder the operation of the current bus system.
The project, which was funded by Federal Stimulus Money, will serve not only Turlock’s bus system, but also the Stanislaus County bus system as well as Merced County’s bus system. The transit center project started through the city process back in June of 2009 when the Planning Commission determined that the proposed acquisition of properties at Golden State Blvd. and Hawkeye Ave. for the purpose of construction of a transit hub conformed with the Turlock General Plan. At that time there was much debate about the location moving from downtown to Dels Lane. However, due to the fact that finding a location within the downtown area would be difficult to meet the time frame required to receive federal funding, the Dels Lane location was chosen.
On April 12, 2011, the Turlock City Council finalized the purchase of proposed properties, formally named the project "Turlock Regional Transit Center," and authorized the advertisement of the construction bid. The city secured $1,450,800 dollars in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding and $362,700 in Proposition 1B transit funding to complete the project without the use of any General Fund monies.
Friday’s grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony of the Turlock Regional Transit Center is open to the public and will start at 10am.
