El Paso Breaks Ground on Northgate Transfer Center
Earlier this month, RNL was at the groundbreaking for a new BRT +TOD project we are working on in El Paso. Read our Design2Thrive blog for more on why this project is especially important and the example it will set for the country.
A transportation project incorporating a new bus transfer center with shops, restaurants, apartments and a park will help revitalize Northeast El Paso, officials said Friday.
City officials had a groundbreaking ceremony for Sun Metro’s Northgate Transfer Center and parking garage — the first phase of a plan expected to serve as a catalyst for major development in Northeast El Paso.
The $10.9 million facility, which will replace the existing Northeast Transit Terminal, will be built on a 6-acre site at Diana Drive and Wren Avenue. It sits on a 30-acre area that once housed the former Northgate Park Mall, which was razed to make way for the new development.
“This project will connect Northeast El Paso to the rest of the community and it will transform the former Northpark Mall area into a vibrant space that significantly improves the quality of life for the entire Northeast area,” said city Rep. Carl Robinson, who represents the area.
Officials said the transfer center facility is part of a first-class commercial public-private development known as Metro 31.
Metro 31, a subsidiary of Hunt Communities, will lease the acres next to the future transfer center from the city. Its plan is to develop the property into a smart code community with shops, restaurants, lofts, apartments and a park.
Officials said the development project has been a long-term effort. In 2011, the city spent $10 million to buy the land and demolish the old mall. Then it looked for a developer and the City Council waived about $13 million worth of taxes and fees for Hunt to develop the land.
“The beginning of this great development brings great excitement,” Mayor Oscar Leeser said. “Projects like this create jobs and opportunities to become a greater El Paso,”
The new transit center will be managed by the city’s Capital Improvement Department and was designed by EXIGO of El Paso, assisted by RNL of Denver.
Officials said the facility was designed as an LEED silver-level project, or a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design environmentally friendly project.
It will include a park and a 173-space parking garage, bus drop-off and pickup shelters, enclosed waiting and ticketing areas, electronic on-street message boards, ticketing and information offices, bike racks, Wi-Fi and a landscaped pedestrian plaza.
Dantex Construction of El Paso will build the transit center. In late June, the City Council approved a contract with the company for about $10.6 million.
Sun Metro Director Jay Banasiak said construction will be completed by fall 2017 and will serve as the main feeder of 11 bus routes.
“This unique transit-oriented development will give our economy a boost by creating jobs and will expand transportation options while revitalizing this key neighborhood in Northeast El Paso,” he said.
The transfer center facility also will house the new Dyer BRIO rapid transit corridor station, which will begin construction later this year, Banasiak added.
The $35.8 million rapid transit system project is expected to be operational by mid-2018. It will connect Northeast El Paso to Central and Downtown El Paso, he said.
The rapid transit project will be about 12 miles long and will include all the services and amenities that are found on the recently constructed Mesa BRIO, such as 60-foot articulated buses, bus service every 10 minutes during peak service to 15 minutes during off-peak service, landscaped stations that are spaced about a mile apart, and the ability to lengthen green traffic signals, according to officials.
As part of the process to enhance connectivity in the area, the city of El Paso also is reconstructing Wren Avenue from Dyer Street to east of Shoppers Road, officials said.
Banasiak said the $1.9 million reconstruction project, which is currently underway, will include the addition of buffered bike lanes, pedestrian walkways with their own landscaping, and dark-sky compliant decorative lighting.
The city also was approved for federal funding to build the terminal, Banasiak said.
“The fact that this community had a long-term vision for this Northeast development speaks volumes that this is a much sorely needed project, one that will have a lot of success,” City Manager Tommy Gonzalez said.