Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District has begun renovation of its downtown transit center and will be moving to temporary facilities this weekend.
The official transition to the temporary facilities in the adjacent parking lot and the closure of the existing transit center and bus driveway is expected to take place Saturday.
Beginning Sunday, buses will be loading and unloading at the new zone locations and all customer service functions will be handled out of the temporary ticket booth and ticket vending machines in the corner of City Lot 3 along Chapala Street, said Hillary Blackerby, planning and marketing manager for Santa Barbara MTD.
ADA-accessible portable restrooms will be available for passengers. The facilities and services will be open to the public during regular transit center hours, 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends and holidays.
MTD bus service will remain in full effect throughout the project, but the temporary loading zones will be used along Chapala and Figueroa streets.
Loading for Zona A and Zone B will be conducted in front of the existing transit center. Zone A includes bus lines 3 and 20. Zone B includes lines 2, 5, 6, 11, 16, 2010, and 2520.
Zone C will load passengers along Figueroa Street. That includes lines 1, 4, 7, 14 and 17.
Zone D includes lines 12x, 24x and 37. Loading will be held near the intersection of Chapala and Figueroa streets.
Zone E will include VCTC riders and will load passengers near the intersection of Chapala and Anapamu streets.
The project consists of complete renovation of the interior of the transit center building, and changes to portions of the exterior of the building, loading platform, curbs, driveway, lighting and landscaping, Ms. Blackerby said.
The renovation is expected to be completed in March. City Lot 3 will remain in operation during the project.To receive updates on the project or get more information, visit www.sbmtd.gov/tc.
