Waite Park Approves Plans For New Metro Bus Transit Center

(KNSI) – The Waite Park City Council unanimously approved the final plat and a Conditional Use Permit for the new Metro Bus Western Transit Center at Monday’s meeting.

The hub is designed to serve rapidly expanding neighborhoods in Waite Park, Sartell, and the southern end of St. Cloud. Platting was necessary to allow construction to begin. To this point, only preliminary work, such as demolition and brush clearing, had been allowed on the 5.5-acre site near the intersection of Sundial Drive and 2nd Avenue South.

The Conditional Use Permit calls for a 4,000 square foot facility made from fabricated metal. There would be two full-time employees inside manning the ticket counter. Extra staff and bus operators would come and go as needed. The Western Transit Center is not a park-and-ride facility.

Operating from 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on weekdays, 6:45 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 8:45 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, it would send off approximately four buses per hour for four different routes based out of the hub.

In the lead-up to the meeting, city staff received letters from residents worried about noise and traffic congestion. On the other side, a nearby apartment complex owner praised the idea.

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