Despite rejecting initial proposal, DeKalb moves forward with plans for multi-million dollar transit center on Dresser Road

DeKALB – Despite rejecting a proposal in April 2021 to build a new municipal transit center on 35 acres of city-owned property on Dresser Road, the DeKalb City Council back-tracked that decision this month and will move forward with construction on the now approved site.

At an Oct. 10 meeting, the City Council voted to approve a recommendation by the city’s Transit Site Selection Committee for a new transit center to house city buses. The transit committee, now dissolved, was created in the fall 2021. The committee had worked with the city’s contractor, Canadian-headquartered architecture company Santec Architecture, to identify possible alternatives to the Dresser Raod location after concerns were raised in 2021 related to potential environmental impact to surrounding properties should a transit center be built.

The council selected the Dresser Road site over two alternatives, including 52.8 acres along Barber Greene Road or 15.5 acres along West Lincoln Highway. The transit center, once constructed, would replace the current facility, which is located at 1825 Pleasant Street.

In February, the city announced its plan to use $17 million in state grant money to help fund the new transit center. The city received $5 million in Rebuild Illinois grant money in 2020 and another $12 million Jan. 26, officials said.

City Manager Bill Nicklas said the city has been engaged in discussions on building a new transit center to better house buses from weather elements otherwise left sitting outside the facility.

“It’s reached that point where it’s not serving us with what we think is that service to our residents,” Nicklas said.

The city’s fleet of 50 buses are serviced and operated through Transdev Services Inc, the same company that provides buses for the Huskie Line used by Northern Illinois University.

Transdev’s facility at 1825 Pleasant Street houses all the transit system’s 50 buses, which city officials have said isn’t ideal in the longterm. The city owns 25 transit vehicles and leases another 25 from Transdev. Store and maintenance of the vehicles is done at Transdev’s facility because the city doesn’t have its own designated center.

Officials have said a new center would allow for better storage for the vehicles and save money from costly maintenance that would be limited if the buses had proper shelter away from the elements.

According to city documents, the transit committee recommended council approve the Dresser Road site after weighing several factors, including distance to riders, neighborhood impact, acquisition costs, ecological impacts, zoning, general topography and other features. The Dresser Road site outscored the other two sites.

“Now, it did have an advantage going in that in terms of the cost,” Nicklas said. “One of the 15, 20 odd variables, that helped in the rating. Also the proximity, I think, probably the other, the strongest piece of that was proximity to the core most populated area that is everyday using the transit system as we know it today.”

The city has the funding in place to carry out the design of the new transit center, officials said. City leaders also have a commitment to construct the facility as well.

First Ward Alderwoman Carolyn Morris said she appreciates the work put in by the Transit Site Committee and how it helps strengthen their argument for constructing the new bus transit facility off Dresser Road.

“I’m not ecstatic that it’s at Dresser Road, but I think they did their due diligence,” Morris said.

Second Ward Alderwoman Barb Larson shared that sentiment.

“I think the city has done their due diligence,” Larson said. “It’s not just lightly decided, ‘We’re going to put it here.’ It makes sense for all the right reasons. But I do appreciate there will be some families that will pay a little bit higher price or impact a little bit more than others. … I think in the long run it’s where it should be in DeKalb.”