Editor's Note: This article was updated Wednesday, May 3, 2023, at 1:30 pm to reflect that the Gold Line is not a new route and that Knox Public Health remains a location on the route. It is a reconfiguration of Knox Area Transit's free circulator route.
MOUNT VERNON — Knox Area Transit has reconfigured its free fixed circulator route, adding several apartment complexes to the list of stops.
Starting May 1, the Gold Line will operate from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. There are nine stops:
•Knox Public Health
•KCH Wellness Center (outside entrance of the building)
•KCH (outside entrance of main hospital)
•Colonial Estates (roadside at the entrance of the parking lot)
•Urgent Care (outside entrance of the building)
•Walmart (outside entrance of the building grocery side)
•Kroger
•Shalimar Apartments (behind Firestone tire shop by fence)
•Hiawatha Senior Village (roadside at entrance of parking lot)
Stops are scheduled every 30 minutes. For example, a shuttle will be at Knox Public Health at 8 am and again at 8:30, 9, and so on.
Transit Director Bethany Celmar said she hopes to launch another fixed route on June 1.
KAT is moving toward fixed routes throughout the city rather than primarily on-demand service. County Administrator Jason Booth said that the Ohio Department of Transportation is aiding KAT in determining the stops on the fixed routes.
“When you make a fixed route, it's easy to look at a location and say it should be here, but how do people get to the stops [to access the shuttle]? That was the piece that was missing,” Booth said of adding apartment complexes to the route. “That's why it's so huge to have the new transit center, because that provides a hub.”
Miscellaneous
The commissioners received a request to vacate the portion of Perimeter Drive located on the northwest corner on the Knox County Fairgrounds. A public viewing of the roadway is scheduled for Tuesday, June 6, at 11 am. A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, June 6, at 1:30 pm in the commissioners' office, 117 E. High St.
The commissioners took the following actions:
•Authorized contributing $165,000 toward the Knox County Fair Board capital improvement projects
•Awarded the annual resurfacing contract to Small's Asphalt Paving in the amount of $1,001,621.93. The engineer's estimate is $1,094,001.00. Brennstuhl Construction submitted a bid of $1,395,551.00.
•Awarded the Fredericktown Amity Road OPWC 2023 resurfacing project to Small's Asphalt Paving in the amount of $889,583.33 The engineer's estimate is $1,083,490.10. Brennstuhl Construction submitted a bid of $1,174,749.50
•Approved agreement between Knox County engineer and DLZ Ohio for LPA construction inspection services for Krause Road Bridge Replacement (KNO-TR112-0.36), in the amount of $133,194.32
•Approved transportation contract between Knox County Department of Job and Family Services - Ohio Means Jobs and Knox Area Transit for transportation for OWF or SNAP Program participants, not to exceed $8,000, from May 1 through December 31
•Approved contract and Notice to Proceed with Kind Homes for Center of Hope cold room construction in the amount of $75,000 ($60,000 paid by Knox County Commissioners and $15,000 paid by Center of Hope)
•Approved Type 2 annexation of 105.65 acres from Pleasant Township to the City of Mount Vernon, parcels 59-02289-000 and 59-0289.001, owners Philip A. and Renee L. Greene and Stephen P. and Justine R. Styer
