Downtown Wichita Falls Travel Center to Break Ground Tuesday
By: Melissa Foy
Updated: September 26, 2012
When city leaders learned they wouldn't receive Bus Livability Grant money to pay for the downtown Wichita Falls Travel Center, they didn't give up; they pursued other ways to fund the center.
One source was from the 4A and 4B Sales Tax Boards.
Officials say they will be able to pay back 100-percent of that money over a three year period.
There's a lot of progress being made on the area around the travel center, which will be located at 306 Scott St.
Groundbreaking for that facility will be held next week.
Right now, it seems like orange cones, construction crews, and bulldozers are taking over downtown Wichita Falls.
Those workers are finishing up some maintenance on Scott St. before construction gets underway.
Public works department crews are also sprucing up some side streets around the location of the downtown Wichita Falls Travel Center.
John Burrus, director of transportation, says, "They did a lot of utility work and we were able to supply them some funding in and around the travel facility for that portion of the project."
Crews are redoing portions of 3rd St. and 4th St so big transit buses can travel safely down those roads.
"Those turning movements will have the tendency to start destroying asphalt, so we want to take a proactive approach and go ahead and get those streets replaced," Burrus says. "We went ahead and went with a concrete surface."
The travel center be both a hub for city buses, as well as regional and national buses, and will mean regional bus riders no longer will have to board or get off their buses in Jolly.
"If they want to go to Crowell, TX, they can transfer over to a Sharp lines bus, which is a regional provider."
Local buses transport more than 500-thousand riders each year, and Burrus says he expects those numbers to continue increasing once the travel center is completed.
Groundbreaking for the travel center is Tuesday at 11 a.m.
Construction should begin the next day.
Burrus says the city gave a 12-month period for construction, but he hopes the travel center will be built and fully operational by July.
One source was from the 4A and 4B Sales Tax Boards.
Officials say they will be able to pay back 100-percent of that money over a three year period.
There's a lot of progress being made on the area around the travel center, which will be located at 306 Scott St.
Groundbreaking for that facility will be held next week.
Right now, it seems like orange cones, construction crews, and bulldozers are taking over downtown Wichita Falls.
Those workers are finishing up some maintenance on Scott St. before construction gets underway.
Public works department crews are also sprucing up some side streets around the location of the downtown Wichita Falls Travel Center.
John Burrus, director of transportation, says, "They did a lot of utility work and we were able to supply them some funding in and around the travel facility for that portion of the project."
Crews are redoing portions of 3rd St. and 4th St so big transit buses can travel safely down those roads.
"Those turning movements will have the tendency to start destroying asphalt, so we want to take a proactive approach and go ahead and get those streets replaced," Burrus says. "We went ahead and went with a concrete surface."
The travel center be both a hub for city buses, as well as regional and national buses, and will mean regional bus riders no longer will have to board or get off their buses in Jolly.
"If they want to go to Crowell, TX, they can transfer over to a Sharp lines bus, which is a regional provider."
Local buses transport more than 500-thousand riders each year, and Burrus says he expects those numbers to continue increasing once the travel center is completed.
Groundbreaking for the travel center is Tuesday at 11 a.m.
Construction should begin the next day.
Burrus says the city gave a 12-month period for construction, but he hopes the travel center will be built and fully operational by July.
