Date:  Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Contact:
Michele Villnave, WSDOT Communications, (360) 705-7875 (Olympia)
Megan McFadden, WSDOT Communications (509) 577-1618 (Yakima)

RICHLAND – Ben Franklin Transit officials and the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) will hold a project dedication ceremony on Friday, June 20 at 11 a.m. The media, local officials, business leaders, and citizens are invited to help celebrate the newly expanded Columbia Park Trail Park and Ride.

As vanpool ridership continues to grow for Ben Franklin Transit, demand for parking at the original park and ride location exceeded the available space. Ben Franklin Transit collaborated with WSDOT and using a $300,000 Regional Mobility Grant and local transit funds, they constructed the expanded park and ride. The project provides 250 new parking spaces.

The Columbia Park Trail Park and Ride supports the recently expanded State Route 240 corridor with access to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Over, 2,500 families have recently moved into the Tri-Cities area resulting in increased employment at the reservation.

The WSDOT Regional Mobility Grant program was funded at $20 million for the 2005-07 biennium and at $40 million in the 2007-09 biennium. The 2009-11 biennium call for projects will be in August 2008. The state’s Regional Mobility Grant Program works to improve the coordination of transit services and to increase the use of transit to reduce congestion.

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