RSSNeighbors rally against bus station
'We won't raise our kids in this
subdivision,' one resident says
One of the dozens of people who showed up for a meeting on the proposed Grand Valley Transit and Greyhound bus station challenges Grand Junction city councilwoman Laura Luke during a comments session Tuesday. The station is slated to be built on 24 1/2 Road, and the meeting at the Goodwill community room drew about 60 concerned citizens and neighbors.
If a Greyhound station is allowed to locate in Jackie Anderson’s neighborhood, she’ll move.
Anderson, who spoke during a heated meeting Tuesday night as one of about 60 people in opposition to such a plan slated for 24 1/2 Road, said the station would make the neighborhood unsafe.
“We will not recover our property values,” she said. “We won’t raise our kids in this subdivision.”
Grand Valley Transit and Greyhound have been in talks about building and operating a joint transfer station north of Mesa Mall. Last spring, Mesa County Commissioners approved purchasing the 3.7-acre site at 612 24 1/2 Road for $950,000.
The meeting Tuesday night, called by nearby property owner and attorney Joe Coleman, brought out plenty of neighbors who oppose the creation of a bus transfer station in their area. People said they mostly are against having a 24-hour Greyhound station in the area, though some they also do not want the local bus station there, either.
Coleman told the crowd a Greyhound station in the area would introduce an element of crime, lower neighbors’ property values and in general make the area unsafe during all hours of the day. Coleman gave the example of children being unsafe when walking to Mesa Mall.
Coleman urged those in attendance to rally against the idea by flooding Grand Junction City Council members and county commissioners with letters and emails in opposition of the plan. Coleman also owns buildings on Patterson Road, and he said tenants have told him they will move out if a bus station is built.
“They’re not listening at all, and they think this is a done deal,” Coleman said of the county’s planning efforts so far. “I’m a property owner, and I’m being attacked for no reason at all. What are they going to do? Flip a coin. Loiter at Fisher’s Liquor Barn or make Barnes & Noble look like a public library.”
Housing Greyhound at the 24 1/2 Road is not a done deal, said City Council member Laura Luke, who attended the meeting. However, Luke acknowledged City Council members may not have final say in the matter. Luke, who also serves on the board for Grand Valley Transit, said council members may have an idea to move the Greyhound station to an area near U.S. Highway 6&50, near Sutherland’s Lumber, through a land swap.
“It wouldn’t be decided by City Council, it would be decided by you,” Luke said. “We want to be smart about where we locate things.”
Working with Greyhound to sell concessions, sell tickets and collect rent could create about $200,000 a year, money Grand Valley Transit could use to increase and update its fleet and create better services for its riders, Luke said.
She said Mesa Mall long has wanted Grand Valley Transit to move a transfer station from in front of J.C. Penney because of traffic-safety issues.
Greyhound is looking to update its downtown building and would like to locate closer to Interstate 70, said Todd Hollenbeck, director of the Mesa County Regional Transportation Office. Hollenbeck said the county will host a neighborhood meeting in the near future to gather concerns of people in the 24 1/2 Road area. He said he wasn’t invited to Tuesday night’s event until two hours before it was slated to begin, and that didn’t allow him enough time to assemble people to attend. A time and date for a meeting hosted by the county should be announced soon, he said.
Hollenbeck also wanted to spread the word that a radio tower on the 24 1/2 Road site would be disassembled and moved starting today, but the work was not related to construction of a bus transfer station.
COMMENTS
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.what about the empty office depot building? it’s a better location and still on 24 1/2 road.