Peoria Standard

With the help of a $10 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Peoria’s CityLink bus maintenance facility — the oldest such facility in Illinois, having been constructed in 1978 — will receive a much-needed makeover.

“We are grateful to receive additional funding support from the FTA for the construction of maintenance and operations facilities,” CityLink General Manager Doug Roelfs said in a statement. “This has been an ongoing project for us the past two years that is long overdue for our transit agency. The rebuild and renovation of our facilities will greatly improve the safety, compliance and overall efficiency for our fleet of buses.”

The new project will be on the same site as the current maintenance and operations facilities at 2105 NE Jefferson Ave., CityLink said in the statement.

CityLink GM Doug Roelfs | https://www.ridecitylink.org/

In January, the agency awarded a planning and design contract to the Muller & Muller firm of Chicago. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2021.

The new grant is through the FTA’s Buses and Bus Facilities Infrastructure Investment Program, which funds the replacement and rehabilitation of buses, equipment and facilities. It also pays for technological improvements for lower-emission vehicles.

CityLink has thus far received a total of $20 million in federal funds for the $30 million maintenance facility rebuild project. In 2018, FTA awarded CityLink $3.6 million for the project, also through the Buses and Bus Facilities Infrastructure Investment Program.

“CityLink is exploring funding opportunities for the additional $10 million needed to fund the project,” the agency said.

CityLink was founded in 1970 when residents in Peoria, Peoria Heights and West Peoria Township formed the Greater Peoria Mass Transit District. Federal grants allowed the new agency to purchase 33 buses. Later that year, the agency’s board of trustees approved extending services into East Peoria.