PORT ANGELES — The Gateway transit center will begin to show some life on Monday as buses roll through for the first time.
But while the buses will roll from the center — which includes a two-tiered parking garage, clock tower, public plaza and Port Angeles Police Department substation as well as bus lanes — most of the $14.7 million downtown project will remain closed.
On Monday, Clallam Transit will move its bus stops at Oak and Front streets to The Gateway at Front and Lincoln streets in Port Angeles.
The routes that will now stop at The Gateway instead of Oak and Front streets are Route 30, Sequim commuter; Route 14, Forks; Route 10, Joyce; Route 20, College Plaza; Route 22, Lincoln/Peabody; Route 24, Cherry Hill; Route 26, West Side.
Times unchanged
“No times are changing,” said Clallam Transit General Manager Terry Weed. “All of the published departure times . . . will apply identically to The Gateway.
Weed said there may be “slight revisions to routing structure overtime.”
Times may also change slightly over time, although Weed said, “I can’t imagine they would be very much.”
Information about bus times will be posted at The Gateway.
In case anyone shows up at Oak and Front streets looking for a bus, a Clallam Transit employee will direct them toward The Gateway, Weed said.
Another employee will be The Gateway to help riders find the right bus.
Olympic Bus Lines will also start using The Gateway on Monday, Weed said.
The bus shelters at Oak and Front streets will be removed in about a week.
“It will ultimately be returned to its natural streetscape,” Weed said.
Clallam Transit can begin using The Gateway because the city of Port Angeles approved occupancy for the bus lanes and break room for bus drivers about two weeks ago.
The city has also approved occupancy to the Port Angeles Police Department’s downtown resource officer office and west parking garage.
No parking
But Weed said parking won’t be available for another week or two.
Weed said Clallam Transit still is re-negotiating a parking management agreement with Heckman Motors. Owner Jack Heckman also owns Olympic Bus Lines, which will use The Gateway.
Weed said the he will meet with city staff on Monday, and with Heckman later in the week, about the contract. He said it could be re-negotiated this week.
Clallam Transit wants to change the contract because it is unclear it will pay for utilities, he said.
All of Clallam Transit’s share of parking revenue has to be used on the project.
The current parking agreement says Heckman Motors will pay Clallam Transit $1,540 a month out of its parking revenue.
“There’s a certain cost of the facilities that either [Clallam] Transit or the city will incur,” Weed said. “We are trying to resolve how those are going to be paid for.”
Doing so, may result in changes to the city’s and Clallam Transit’s interlocal agreement for The Gateway.
The public restrooms at The Gateway will remain closed because they are accessed through the project’s pavilion.
Crack not repaired
The pavilion is closed to public access because the city has yet to approve a structural repair to the building’s eastern foundation wall — which also means that the parking underneath the pavilion will be off limits.
Cracking in the foundation wall has delayed the project from being fully completed since November, when it was scheduled to be finished.
Glenn Cutler, Port Angeles public works and utilities director, said it will be another 30 to 60 days before the wall is repaired and the pavilion is opened.
The location of the cracking is viewable from the fence at the bottom of the pavilion. An area of the crack has been chipped away.
Nathan West, city economic and community development director and building official, has said a repair proposed by Bright Engineering, Inc. — which Cutler said essentially involves adding additional concrete to the structure — has not been approved because he isn’t satisfied that it meets the city’s building code.
West could not be reached for additional comment on Thursday and Friday.
Police Chief Terry Gallagher said the Police Department’s downtown resource officer, Duane Benedict, probably will move into his office at The Gateway sometime this week.
The Gateway is paid for with $8.1 million in state and federal grants, $6.1 million in city funds and $500,000 from Clallam Transit.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
