County OKs tentative funding for bus depot

The first stage of the bus depot project, expected to cost $74.5 million, includes $20.5 million already approved for design and land acquisition, as well as funding for site preparation and construction of facilities needed to maintain 150 buses.

‘‘We will be able to provide enhanced service to our residents upcounty and throughout the county,” Councilwoman Nancy M. Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park said Monday.

The county’s Ride On bus system is carrying a record number of passengers this year and buses have to occasionally pass waiting passengers because they are full, county officials have reported. The depot would allow the county to expand Ride On service, they say.

The 200,000-square-foot facility is planned for a site on Whelan Lane near the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. It would eventually service 250 Ride On buses. No other sites are under consideration.

Design of the depot began last summer and will continue through June 2009. The estimated cost of the entire project is $91.7 million.

Area residents have opposed putting a depot in Clarksburg for years, citing concerns about the environmental impact because the depot site is located in the sensitive Clarksburg Special Protection Area.

They also believe the depot would bring too much traffic to the area.

The current plan calls for the second stage to include facilities for 100 additional buses. Planning for that stage would begin in mid-2014 and cost $17.2 million.

Council President Michael J. Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown on Monday said he has mixed feelings about the tentative approval of the first stage of the depot.

‘‘It is very good for the county because it allows us to expand our transit services,” Knapp said. ‘‘I still have concerns because I don’t think the county government has had enough discussions with the community to make sure their concerns are vetted.”

Knapp said he is trying to schedule a town meeting in Clarksburg before the middle of July to give residents the opportunity to talk about the depot and other issues facing the community.