BLUEFIELD, WV (WOAY) – What will be an updated and modern transfer system for riders of the Bluefield Area Transit in the Bluefield area is now up for bid.
The transit offers a bus route that covers several areas of Southern West Virginia. The current Bluefield location at the Old Golf Station will be giving way to a new location besides Flowers Bakery on Bluefield Avenue.
“So this bus system actually covers from Athens in Mercer County all the way down to Premiere in McDowell County,” said Bluefield City Attorney Colin Cline. “We need a place to get from one end of the system to the other.”
It wasn’t easy for Bluefield to lock down a new location that would be attractive for bidding, while also fulfilling the needs of the station itself.
“We looked around the city for some place that was big enough to accommodate all of this,” Cline said. “It has to be specially designed, because it needs to accommodate the turning radius, not only for Bluefield Area Transit buses, but also for Greyhound buses that we are hoping to use the facility as well.”
The new transfer station promises to be attractive to prospective bidders, as well as residents of the areas that will be using it.
“It will enormously increase the comfort and dignity of people riding Bluefield Area Transit,” Cline said. “A lot of folks are coming up here for doctor’s appointments, to go to school, things of that nature. We need a place for them to be able to comfortably wait to change buses.”
Once the state chooses the winning contractor, a more definitive timetable will be set on when the upgraded station will be available to the public. A pre-bid conference for the new station is set for October 9th, and October 22nd at 1:30 p.m. is the deadline to submit bids.
