Valley Regional Transit–There’s good news for motorists using the Main Street and Fairview Avenue corridor. Five of the six locations that make up the transit station project are nearing completion.
The orange cones and traffic restrictions related to the transit stations on Fairview Avenue have been removed, but new cones popped up for an unrelated project. The transit stops on Fairview Avenue at 24th and 18th streets are almost ready for service. All that remains for buses to start using the new stops is final concrete and paving work at the 18th Street station, and the installation of railings, expected sometime in January 2022. The new protected bike lanes created by the stations will not be available to cyclists on Fairview until the completion of concrete and paving work at the 18th Street station sometime in December.
Meanwhile, there are new lane restrictions on the north side of Fairview between 24th and 16th streets as Suez Idaho is doing work on an underground water main.
Progress continues on the Main Street side of the transit station project, where stops are being built at 17th, 23rd, and 27th streets. Concrete work, asphalt paving, and lane markings still need to be completed. The work should finish by the end of December.
A sixth transit island will be constructed at 27th and Fairview in the summer of 2022 by St. Luke’s Health Systems in partnership with Capital City Development Corporation (CCDC).
The Main and Fairview transit station project is a joint project with the City of Boise, Valley Regional Transit, and CCDC. The raised platforms will be the first of their kind in downtown Boise. In addition to creating a buffer between vehicular traffic and cyclists, the stops will feature amenities like covered bus shelters and solar-powered lighting, real-time bus information, benches, trash receptacles, railings, and upgraded ADA pedestrian ramps. The raised platform and transit stations will speed up transit service by making it easier for passengers to board and alight the bus. This, in turn, will minimize transit’s impact on other vehicular traffic. The transit stations will also create room for enhanced passenger amenities that make taking the bus more comfortable and safer.
The stations won’t see bus shelters, benches, and trash receptacles installed until February 2022. However, Valley Regional Transit will use the stations for regular bus service along this critical commuter corridor once the railings are installed.
About Valley Regional Transit
Valley Regional Transit is the regional public transportation authority for Ada and Canyon counties. Valley Regional Transit bus services include 17 fixed routes in Boise/Garden City, on-demand bus service in Nampa/Caldwell, four inter-county routes between Ada and Canyon counties, and numerous specialized transportation options. For more information, visit valleyregionaltransit.org.
