The update below was provided by Kootenai County in September of 2018.
The Riverstone Transit Center will enhance rider experience by providing shelter from weather, paved parking, restrooms, and a customer service interface, all in a safe and secure environment. The centralized location and adjacent Centennial Trail make access to the Center convenient for both pedestrians and bicyclists, while motorists have access from Seltice Way via Northwest Boulevard with close proximity to I-95 off/on ramps. Future plans to use the Transit Center as a hub for multi-modal and alternative modes of transportation give the community room for growth in transportation options. The construction contract for the fully accessible center and 2,500 square foot building was signed in August of 2018, and construction is expected to be completed in mid-Summer of 2019.
The KMPO Transit Center Location Study was adopted by the KMPO Board on October 1, 2009. The purpose of the study was to identify a location for an intermodal facility to be used by Citylink and other public transportation providers and serve as a starting point for pedestrians and bicyclists using area trails.
An evaluation of alternative locations, a determination of the top three locations, and an assessment and recommendation for a preferred location are included in the Study.
A link to the Study is provided below.
Background 2009: Citylink is a partnership between the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, KMPO, the State of Idaho and Kootenai County. Citylink provides free public transportation to Southern Kootenai and Western Benewah counties, including the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Reservation. Citylink is operated by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe through the transportation department at the Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel. Citylink consists of five routes covering over 200 miles. Six buses with a total yearly capacity of more than 600,000 riders serve the system.
Since 2005, the Riverstone development in Coeur d’Alene has been used as a park & ride and transfer location. All three of the Citylink Urban Routes serve the Riverstone transfer station and the Link Route connects the Coeur d’Alene Casino transfer station to Riverstone. Recently, Citylink was notified that the Riverstone property would no longer be available for Citylink use.
This news started discussions in the transportation community as to the need for a centralized transit center. In addition to Citylink, other area transportation providers could also utilize a transit center, such as KATS-LINK, Northwestern Trailways, Greyhound, Omnibus, Inc., the Kootenai Medical Center (KMC) Shuttle, the North Idaho College (NIC) Shuttle, White Tail Transportation Service, Benewah Area Transit (BAT), and Spokane Transit Authority (STA) vanpools. A centrally located maintenance base is also desired to reduce the cost and time delay for road calls.
The study area for a transit center site encompasses the Coeur d’Alene metropolitan area and considers the following criteria:
- Site size – ability to accommodate current and future transit service
- Turning movements on site and on adjacent roadways
- Circulation on site and on nearby roads, vehicle ingress and egress
- Bus routing and access to site
- Impact to surrounding traffic flow including potential signalization changes
- Capacity for bus storage and layovers
- Parking capacity and impact to surrounding use
- Parking demand
- Pedestrian and bicycle circulation and safety
This study was financed through funds provided to KMPO through the Federal Highway Administration’s Planning Funds and from local funding.
Scope of Work included:
1. Host workshop with steering committee and potential public transportation providers to determine current and future facility requirements, and brainstorm potential sites.
2. Research the availability of potential sites, and prepare preliminary opinion of suitability.
3. Work with steering committee to develop formal selection criteria, and select one preferred and two additional alternate sites for a transit facility.
4. Provide site size analysis including transit vehicle dwell/layover bays, parking capacity and suitability to accommodate future service.
5. Develop operational scenarios for the transit facility, including:
a. Citylink fixed route alignments
b. Scheduling and transfer connectivity
c. Access for other potential public transportation providers
d. Passenger vehicle access, circulation and parking
e. Pedestrian and bicycle access and circulation
f. Proximity & access to major roadways including I90, US95 and local arterials
6. Develop site plan recommendations based on aforementioned design criteria.
7. Evaluate each alternative for its impact to surrounding traffic operations.
8. Develop computer animation simulations or other visual illustrations depicting the alternatives being evaluated. The graphics and visualizations should depict how the proposed facility would appear to a member of the general public.
9. Perform preliminary engineering design as needed to develop planning-level costs for up to three proposed sites. (It is not anticipated that this level of design effort will require field surveys.)
10. Develop possible implementation recommendations and present them to the Steering Committee and to the Kootenai Public Transportation Roundtable.
11. Coordinate closely with KMPO on the public involvement process for the study. Coordinate two public open houses. Assist and participate in stakeholder outreach.
12. Incorporate feedback from steering committee members, local jurisdictions, the Kootenai Public Transportation Roundtable, and the KMPO board in recommendations developed for the facility.
13. Prepare monthly project status reports.
14. Prepare a final report on findings and recommendations.
15. Provide analysis and recommendation for transit vehicle storage and maintenance capacity at or near the facility.
16. Provide an assessment of the suitability of a design-build process to complete the design and construction of the facility in an expedited manner.
The Transit Center Location Study is available as a pdf in the single page layout.