It appears city hall is destined to remain Thunder Bay’s south-side transit hub.
But the public will be give two last chances to voice their opinion on the decision at a pair of open houses on Nov. 3 and Nov. 5
Thunder Bay Transit general manager Brad Loroff on Thursday said feedback is important ahead of city council making a final decision on the matter.
“The whole purpose for the two sessions we’re offering people to come and join us at next week is to show people what we’re proposing with respect to some of the changes. We want to get people’s thoughts and input,” Loroff said.
“We’ve also reached out to some of the neighbouring businesses and organizations and will be meeting with them separately, as they wish, to hear some of their comments, their ideas, their thoughts and their concerns.”
This information will be brought back to council by mid-November to provide them the information they’ll need to make a final decision.
City hall was originally tagged as a temporary south-side terminal in 2010, when the former Brodie Street terminal was razed to pave way for the new consolidated courthouse.
The plan at the time was to host the terminal at city hall for two to three years, when a permanent site would be chosen.
But five years later transit officials say the city hall site has proven to be the ideal location.
The move to make it permanent will come with a hefty $350,000 price tag.
“There are some improvements we want to improve there, to offer better accessibility for passengers through some sidewalk
improvements, through better transit infrastructure,” Loroff said. “Bigger waiting areas, heated shelters for people, which is what we don’t have now; things like electronic passenger information signs.”
City hall is one of five transit hubs in the city, in addition to the Water Street terminal on the north side of town, Lakehead University, Confederation College and a planned Intercity terminal at a yet-to-be-determined location.
Both open houses are slated to be held in the city hall lobby. Tuesday’s is scheduled from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. while Thursday’s will be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
For more information, and to provide feedback on the proposed plan, email [email protected], call 684-3744 or visit: www.thunderbay.ca/smartertransit
