The Regional Transportation Commission has some exciting projects going on in the Reno/Sparks area; 8 new bus stations, 4 additional electric buses, and adding a little history to some existing stations.
The 8 new stations are part of the 4th Street/Prater Way Bus RAPID transit project. The RTC is asking the public to vote on the design of the new stations. The online poll is still open to choose from 3 designs at http://4thprater.com/. These new stations will be at the intersections of 15th street, Galletti Way, El Rancho Drive, and Sutro Street. This project also includes wider sidewalks and adding bike lanes. The project has been awarded the largest grant in RTC’s history, a $16 million TIGER grant (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery). On top of that, according to the RTC Board update, “President Obama included $6.4 million in his budget for this project under the Federal Transit Administration’s Small Starts program.”
The new transit stations may also have a historical theme since Prater and 4th street were once part of the famous Lincoln Highway. RTC has already included some historical displays at the RTC Centennial Plaza as well as the RTC 4th Street station.
Additionally, a Community Working Group (CWG) and Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) are being established to work on the project of connecting Virginia Midtown to the University via RAPID transit. This project aims to make walking safer in these areas as well as improve sidewalks and traffic operations. According to RTC enews, “the first CWG meeting has been scheduled to be held on Monday, March 23rd at 3:00 p.m. in the RTC Board Room.” For more details on this check out the RTC website at http://rtcwashoe.com/.
For details on the many other projects going on around the Reno/Sparks area check out the full RTC’s full Board Update e-News segment.
source: http://www.rtcwashoe.com/images/newsletter_02272015/eNews_February_2015.html
