Oct. 17, 2002 – A move is under way to build a VITRAN bus park-and-ride and maintenance facility in Coral Bay, according to a Public Works Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
VITRAN now operates out of the Public Works Department facility at Susannaberg.
While the official said several sites are under consideration, an Oct. 15 letter from Public Works Commissioner Wayne Callwood to Housing Parks and Recreation Commissioner Ira Hobson spells out a desire to utilize up to an acre of land at 6-4 C Estate Carolina. Estate Carolina makes up the major portion of the Coral Bay area.
Callwood wrote that constructing the facility on this site will "enable the department to better plan and coordinate the much needed transportation services and also maintain equipment that will provide for efficiency and reliability for the fast-growing population on St. John."
The flat Carolina parcel, part of a five-acre tract, sits on the left-hand side of the road heading up Centerline Road from Coral Bay.
One resident with a vested interest in the proposal doesn't want the bus facility in her backyard. Lorelei Monsanto said that her grandfather, William Marsh, donated the property to the V.I. government about 20 years ago with the specification that it be used as a recreation field.
Monsanto owns property right above the proposed bus depot site and is building a house on the land. "I don't want it on my front door," she said of the bus facility, adding that broken-down buses would be an eyesore.
The Public Works official said VITRAN's plan is to develop a park-and-ride facility. The official said the department wants a Coral Bay location because the bus route begins in Coral Bay. Hobson, whose department has oversight for the donated property, did not return a telephone call requesting comment.
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