Amarillo breaks ground on multi-million-dollar transit terminal

Michael Cuviello, Amarillo Globe-News
·2 min read
City leaders break ground Thursday on a new multimodal transit station tentatively scheduled for completion by December 2023 near downtown Amarillo.
City leaders break ground Thursday on a new multimodal transit station tentatively scheduled for completion by December 2023 near downtown Amarillo.

The city of Amarillo broke ground on its new multimodal transportation center, a multi-million-dollar facility aimed at enhancing the community's transportation offerings.

According to Amarillo city officials, the $8.6 million project will be 96% funded by federal grants, which will have minimal impact on the city's taxpayers. The new transportation center is located at the corner of 6th and Bowie Street and can provide a terminal for Greyhound and Panhandle Transit. Completion of the project is tentatively expected to be in December 2023.

Mayor Ginger Nelson was on hand to wield one of the many ceremonial shovels. Nelson spoke about the importance of the project for the residents of Amarillo.

“This will improve bus services for people that use our transit system,” Nelson said. “ This relocation moves the terminal to a more central location so the routes will run more efficiently. This is a huge step in the right direction with better sheltering of people waiting for the bus and with less of an impact on the traffic load of the city. I think this will be a great improvement for the city.”

She emphasized that only a small fraction of the project will be funded with Amarillo tax dollars.

Chris Quigly, the Amarillo transit director stands with an artists' rendition Thursday of the new multimodal transit station tentatively scheduled for completion by December 2023 near downtown Amarillo.
Chris Quigly, the Amarillo transit director stands with an artists' rendition Thursday of the new multimodal transit station tentatively scheduled for completion by December 2023 near downtown Amarillo.

Chris Quigly, Amarillo’s Transit Director, spoke about the interconnectivity and convenience of the new facility.

“This is really an exciting project for the city and public transportation,” Quigly said. “The city will have a state-of-the-art multimodal bus terminal that will provide connectivity for entities such as Greyhound and Panhandle Transit. This new terminal will be very beneficial and convenient for our customers who use public transportation.”

Quigly said the transit project had been identified as a need in 2016 and has been in the process for the past two years.

The new location of the Amarillo multimodal transit station tentatively scheduled for completion by December 2023 near downtown Amarillo.
The new location of the Amarillo multimodal transit station tentatively scheduled for completion by December 2023 near downtown Amarillo.

“This is all about customer service and connectivity for our city; we want to ensure that people have the capability to get back and forth to the places they need to get to with the city transit system,” Quigly said. “Everybody deserves the opportunity to have quality transportation.”

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo breaks ground on new transit terminal