DUNBAR — Dunbar residents using Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation (FACT) are now able to catch the bus from inside a covered shelter located beyond the railroad tracks near the ticket booth in town.
The five-foot-by-eight-foot building is the first of eight shelters in Fayette County to be completed by the end of June by Redstone Excavating of Grindstone.
"They know exactly where to catch the bus now and they're out of the weather," said Lori Groover-Smith, acting director at FACT.
According to Groover-Smith, the overall project is being funded with $110,000 in federal money along with state and local matches with Dunbar's shelter costing $14,000.
McMillen Engineering is overseeing the project with the bus shelters owned and operated by FACT.
Aside from Dunbar, the remaining bus shelters will be constructed in Connellsville near city hall, downtown Brownsville and in Uniontown near the Uniontown Hospital, White Swan Apartments, Marshall Manor, Mount Vernon Towers and Gallatin Avenue.
Tammy Stenson, senior planner with McMillen Engineering, said the project initially involved 18 sites with 10 property owners that either didn't respond to a letter for a proposed shelter or indicated at the time they were not interested.
"Once everyone hears about how nice it is to be undercover when it's bad out we may get more responses," said Stenson.
Stenson said earlier the need to provide safe shelters for FACT's patrons was based on the expansion of the public transit system, along with increased ridership and bus routes.
When exploring what types of shelters to build, Groover-Smith said FACT officials settled on a design that was handicapped accessible and partially enclosed.
Groover-Smith said FACT is currently in the process of having new signs made that will be placed at each bus stop so people know exactly where to go.
Fayette Area Coordinated Transit (FACT) has placed a new shelter at its bus stop in Dunbar. Waiting in the new shelter are Kathy Dugan (left) of Dunbar and Rebecca Hollenbaugh of Connellsville, both are regular users of the FACT buses.
