A Sarnia Transit bus rolled through a ribbon to mark the completion of the new Clearwater Terminal Friday morning.
Engineering and Operations General Manager David Jackson acknowledged the long road it took to get to this point.
"Any project we start it's two or three years before," said Jackson. "We look at budgeting and design and those kinds of things, and then tendering and construction. So, it's been in the works for a long time. So, it's really exciting to be here today and see it all put together. It looks great and we're excited to start operating from here starting Monday."
There will be some route and schedule changes on Monday to include the Wellington Street site.
"We put out some notices. We have a new interactive map on the website. We made a lot of the changes the last time we did updates last year knowing this was coming. Some of the more significant changes happened then," said Jackson. "So, on Monday, it's a number of tweaks happening but not major changes."
Jackson said there is space for eight buses, support vehicles and it's a much nicer environment for people to wait.
"This is the first off-road full size terminal we've ever had, which is great," he said. "It ties in with Clearwater Community Hub, so we have access to indoor facilities and as part of that master plan grows we're looking to even enhance the space we'll have for our staff in the facility," he said.
Jackson said the project was funded through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.
"Overall it was about a $3 million dollar project, with the vast majority funded from the federal and provincial governments," he said.
Driver Felicity Bazeley, who has been working with Sarnia Transit for ten years, is looking forward to using the terminal next week.
"I'm excited, yet nervous," she said. "Some people don't take change well, but this is a good change and we're here to support [riders]. There's going to be service support on the island, which is Clearwater, helping people get to places they need to go."
Bazeley said drivers have been familiarizing themselves with the terminal.
"We've done about four hours of training. In and out, going around different routes. Were well prepared," she added.
