PORT ANGELES — At the newly opened bus stops at The Gateway transit center, passengers share much of the same routines they had when they awaited buses about two blocks away at Oak and Front streets.
They check the time. They read books. They chat with each other.
While they carry on as usual, they each have their own opinions — some in favor, some against — on moving their usual stop to the $14.7 million transit center on Lincoln and Front streets and Railroad Avenue, a change put into effect last Monday.
“Oh, I like it a lot,” said Ellen Leffel of Forks, who was waiting to catch the No. 14 bus back home last week. “It’s a lot better than Oak Street.”
Leffel, 46, said she likes the transit center — which partially opened a week ago to allow buses to use the transit lane — because it’s separated from the road traffic, quieter, and feels more secure.
“The cars would come through and park there,” she said, referring to former bus stops at Oak and Front streets. “Here, they can’t come in.”
Question value
The Gateway also includes 169 parking spaces, a pavilion and public restrooms that remain closed, as well as an office for the Port Angeles downtown resource officer and a break room for bus drivers.
Port Angeles Downtown Resource Officer Duane Benedict said he expects to move from his current downtown office at 208 N. Laurel St. into his new office at The Gateway within two weeks.
Tammy Layton, 50, of Port Angeles, said she likes it because there haven’t been people loitering at the bus stops, which she said was a problem at the former location.
“We had a lot of people hanging out there,” she said.
While passengers such as Layton and Leffel approve of the change, others question whether the cost was worth it.
“I don’t really know why we had to have them over here,” said Esther Wadsworth, 73, of Port Angeles.
“It’s kind of a white elephant . . . It could have saved the city a lot of money and they could have put it toward the pool.”
Said a woman, Jennifer, who declined to provide her last name, “I don’t know if we needed a $15 million bus stop, but it’s lovely.”
The Gateway is funded by $8.1 million in state and federal grants, $6.1 million in city funds and $500,000 from Clallam Transit.
For Tommy Cook of Forks, all that mattered was catching the bus home.
He arrived with his girlfriend and toddler at the transit center too late to catch the bus to Forks because he did not know that the bus stops at Oak and Front streets had moved to The Gateway.
“We saw [the bus stop shelters] taped off” at Oak and Front streets, he said as the trio walked quickly to catch the bus on Lincoln Street. “We called and they told us they moved them yesterday.
“We have been here since 11 [a.m.]. I guess we will have to wait another two hours.”
The bus stop shelters at Oak and Front streets are expected to be removed by the end of the week.
The routes using The Gateway — and no longer stopping at 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
Bus driver Larry Estes said The Gateway has room for an additional three buses if needed.
And what do the bus drivers think?
“Oh, we love it,” Estes said.
Bus drivers
Estes said The Gateway provides for more room for passengers and is safer, since bus stops aren’t on any of the downtown streets.
“We don’t have to worry about cars zipping by,” he said. “Plus, it’s quieter. It has a more relaxed feel for everybody.”
Estes said there hasn’t been any confusion on the part of the drivers of where to stop.
“Already, everybody is just in line with it.”
A plus for the drivers is the break room at The Gateway.
Estes said it is the first time drivers have had a break room.
“Before we just walked around town or sat in the bus,” he said.
Driver Kim Wilcox said the number of passengers on her route to Sequim has been about the same as when she stopped at Oak and Front streets.
“It’s about the same flow,” she said. “It’s a little slower, but we have days like that.”
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
