HARLINGEN — Residents here will get a chance to help design the city’s first public transit center.
After more than five years of planning, the project funded through a $5.6 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration is entering the design phase.
Now, city commissioners are mulling four architectural and engineering firms for the development of the transit center to be built at the site of Valley Metro’s make-shift station at 201 N. T St.
“We want it to reflect Harlingen’s character,” Ana Hernandez, the city’s mobility and special projects director, said Monday. “Just as an example, at the convention center we tried to incorporate Harlingen’s history in art features.”
Last Friday, the four architectural and engineering firms made their presentations before city commissioners.
Last month, a committee made up of city officials ranked the firms based on a set of criteria.
However, officials declined to release the firms’ rankings Monday.
On Wednesday, commissioners are set to pick a firm for the job.
The firms vying for the job include Negrete & Kolar, based in Austin and Edinburg; Exp, with five Texas offices; Able City, based in Laredo, with offices in San Antonio and Mission; and Gignac, based in Corpus Christi, with offices in Harlingen.
After their selection, the city will hold two public hearings, giving residents a chance to help design the transit center, Hernandez said.
“We’re going to involve the public in the design process,” she said.
Gateway to the city
During their presentations, the four firms highlighted their experience in designing transit centers.
“We want it to be unique to Harlingen,” Assistant City Manager Gabriel Gonzalez said. “We don’t want it to look like an existing station anywhere else in the Valley.”
Off Interstate 69 on North T Street, the transit center will stand like a gateway into the city.
“It’s going to be right off the expressway so that’s a big plus,” Gonzalez said. “That’s an avenue to get into Harlingen. It could be a gateway for coming in.”
In 2019, city officials settled on the 1.8-acre site with access to the area’s highway system when commissioners approved the $291,000 purchase of the old Cameron County Precinct 4 warehouse property at 201 N. T St., fulfilling the federal grant’s requirement for local money to help fund the project, Gonzalez said.
Designing the transit center
In Harlingen, the city’s first public transit center will likely feature tall canopies looming over its open docking areas to include about six bus bays.
“We want to have a cover for passengers when they get to the docking area,” Gonzalez said.
Meanwhile, the center’s terminal will likely feature bus lines’ ticket counters, a fast-food restaurant, a shop and office space, officials said.
“We want to be able to have buses and taxi cabs convene at the facility and to take off from there,” Gonzalez said.
Inside the terminal, customers might buy tickets to board buses operated by Valley Metro and such companies as Valley Transit Co. and Greyhound.
Other companies such as Adame, Tornado and El Expreso might offer service into Mexico.
“The buses would have their own ticket counter,” Gonzalez said. “We’d like to have retail. If someone wants something to eat, we’d like to have a restaurant. A unique feature for transit centers is a waiting area with seats.”
Meanwhile, Valley Metro, which will operate the transit center, plans to lease office and retail space, Tom Logan, the bus line’s director, said, adding officials are considering the agency’s operating fee.
Valley Metro hub
With its central regional location, the transit center will serve as Valley Metro’s northern Cameron County hub, Logan said.
In 2016, the city’s updated 10-year comprehensive plan ranked the transit center as No. 13 on its priority list.
Officials are counting on the center to help transform the area’s public transportation.
For decades, Valley Transit Co.’s station has served as the city’s bus center at 215 East Monroe Ave.
But the city’s lacked a facility to serve as a hub for bus lines bound for stops in the United States and Mexico.
So residents have boarded buses bound for stops in the United States and Mexico outside a Stripes convenience store on Tyler Avenue near the Interstate 69 interchange.
“That’s kind of dangerous,” Gonzalez said of the bus stop, where customers wait for buses in a parking lot along the I-69 frontage road. “Some of them have children. (The transit center) will make it easier, convenient and safer.”
After a four-month design phase, officials expect an 18-month construction period before the transit center opens.
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