Potluck Party Dec 11, 2009

Employees either brought a dish or donated money towards paying for a ham.

NCDOT Transportation Secretary Gene Conti

click on photo to enlarge, NCDOT Transportation Secretary Gene Conti visted AppalCART's new construction site on Oct 29, 2009.

AppalCART on a hybrid bus

NCDOT-PTD has approved hybrid-bus purchases through Gillig. AppalCART has the funding and will likely receive a bus like this one in late 2010.

Signs are up!

Signs are up at the new facility site.

Pop105 servicing University Highlands.

photo's submitted by Secretary Joanna Wilcox

a few facility photo's

submitted by Transportation Director Chris Turner

Aug 25th first day ASU classes

photo's by Transportation Director Chris Turner
director@appalcart.com
828.264.2280
AppalCART is the public transportatio sysytem for Watauga County, North Carolina
www.appalcart.com

First day of classes for Appalachian State University
www.appstate.edu

waiting at the WalMart bus shelter

High Country Press | Site Work Begins on New AppalCART Facility

High Country Press
Site Work Begins on New AppalCART Facility

by Sam Calhoun

By July 2010, AppalCART will debut a new facility in Watauga County thanks to funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Although the federal government has yet to dole out the money for the project to AppalCART, said Director Chris Turner, the state approved the award in June and Watauga County’s transportation authority is currently using its own funds to conduct site preparation work at a five-acre site on Highway 105 Bypass while waiting for federal approval.

Two months ago, N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue announced that AppalCART had been approved for $6 million in stimulus funding to build a new, 23,000-square-foot, LEED-certified transit center in Boone that will consist of offices and a maintenance area. AppalCART purchased five acres on Highway 105 Bypass in 2004 for the transit center and used internal funds to complete environmental assessments on the property. AppalCART attempted to get state funding to build the new facility, but none was available until stimulus funding became an option.

As far as a planned groundbreaking ceremony, “we’re still waiting for the state to tell us when the federal government can participate,” said Turner.

Turner applied for $5.5 million to build the new facility and an additional $500,000 for passenger accomodations, such as new bus shelters, he said.

“The state approved the project; now we’re just waiting for the feds to approve it,” said Turner, who added that stimulus funding for rural projects in the state seem to be taking longer to distribute. “We’ve been told the feds will notify the state as soon as the funding is available.”

While waiting, Turner said a construction crew is using money set aside by AppalCART to conduct preliminary grading on site and to dig a ditch for a retaining wall. According to Turner, the transit center is expected to be completed by July 2010.

Turner estimated the project would create 40 jobs and sustain about 300 jobs among general contractors and subcontractors. The new facility is designed by architect David Patrick Moses and AppalCART awarded the bid for the project to McCarroll Construction, Inc.

Aug 7 pumping water out

trying to dry out the land, using sump pumps to get the water out

photo's submitted by McCarroll Construction's General Contractor Terry Davis