Superior Bus Stops To Get Overhaul; Solar-Power Part Of Plan
Those bus stops you see throughout the City of Superior are about to get a little nicer looking and a little 'greener' at the same time. The city is at the receiving end of a grant from the state to update the bus stops in 2022, adding solar-power to the new design.
News sources are reporting that the City of Superior has received a grant in the amount of $371,000 from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's Transportation Alternatives Program. The money is "one of 28 projects statewide" that will share more than $14 million in funding through the program - which benefits projects that wouldn't normally fall under the scope of the transportation system.
Superior transportation officials plan to use the money to make significant improvements the bus stops found throughout the city. As part of the process, some existing stops might be removed and other new ones may be added, following a review of usage. A survey is currently underway which is being navigated by the Duluth Transit Authority. In a move that's different from other similar usage surveys in the past, transportation officials are looking at the system as a whole - not compartmentalized between different states and cities.
As far as the solar-power usage goes, the move follows one made similarly across the bridge in 2019. The Duluth Transit Authority made improvements to ten different bus stops over there, adding solar-powered lighting.
While the bus stops in the Twin Ports serve one public transportation system (the Duluth Transit Authority), some might be surprised to learn that ownership and maintenance differs depending on which side of the bridge you're on. In Duluth, the DTA owns and maintains the bus stops; on the Superior-side, the City of Superior owns the bus stops with the DTA providing maintenance.