MOUNT VERNON — A multi-year dream of a new public transit hub on West High Street bit the dust when the county commissioners agreed on Thursday to pull out of the project.
Knox County Transit, under its former name Knox Area Transit, applied for a construction grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in January 2022. The Ohio Department of Transportation administers FTA grants.
Before that, county officials spent time and money on preliminary design plans.
In September 2022, the Board of Commissioners bought two parcels on West High and Norton streets for a new operations center.
However, the project stalled because ODOT and FTA have continually requested additional information and studies.
“This week they’re requesting some additional information, and it just seems like we’re going on and on and on and getting nowhere. And the cost of the project just keeps going up and up and up,” County Administrator Jason Booth said.
The commissioners decided to withdraw from the application process after what Booth called a long process and a difficult decision.
“I think we’re just kind of at a crossroads where, with your approval today, we could notify FTA that we just want to pull out of that project,” Booth said.
Delays and rising costs derail transit hub plans
The original project estimate was $8 million. The FTA grant was $6 million. The county would provide $2 million in cash and municipal bond financing.
Booth said the plan was feasible at the time.
“Now that this has drawn out for as long as it’s drawn out, the fear now is that this project could probably be more in the $10 to $12 million range,” he said.
“The $6 million from FTA is not going to change, and the county’s not in a position, I don’t believe, to take out that kind of a bond. To the taxpayer, that debt I don’t think is wise at this point.”
Booth also noted there are a lot of unknowns with federal government funding.
“On top of that, the FTA keeps moving the goal line. We think we’re right there, and then they want something else,” he said.
Booth said Transit Director Bethany Celmar agrees with the decision to pull out of the project.
What’s next?
The county still must find a long-term permanent solution for transit because KCT has outgrown its facility on Columbus Road.
Options include moving KCT’s administration to one location while maintenance and storage remain at the current location since the building is paid for.
The next step is to evaluate selling the downtown property, possibly with the land bank acting on behalf of the county.
“It seemed like working with ODOT initially was going to be smooth, and then we found out ODOT wasn’t quite up to par on a lot of things,” Commissioner Bill Pursel said.
“Then as we started working with the federal government through ODOT and their consultants, it just kept being muddy the whole time.”
Delays include ODOT wanting the city to install a traffic light on High Street, questions about tree removal, and requiring multiple EPA inspections.
“The requests on what they wanted seemed to be lunacy,” Pursel said.
The commissioners shared their concerns about the delays and difficulties with representatives from Sen. Bernie Moreno’s office last month.
Booth said it is difficult to let the project go because of the time and effort spent thus far.
“But I feel financially it’s the right decision and the right recommendation to make to you as commissioners,” he said.
Because of the grant requirements, the commissioners cannot reallocate the money to a different or smaller project or change location.
Additionally, the county cannot recoup any costs spent on the project.
Booth noted that the county now at least has prepared plans should the commissioners decide to build a maintenance facility in the future.
