You are viewing this article in the AnnArbor.com archives. For the latest breaking news and updates in Ann Arbor and the surrounding area, see MLive.com/ann-arbor
Posted on Sat, Aug 25, 2012 : 5:57 a.m.

Ypsilanti-Willow Run bus garage renovations on track for completion by first day of school

By Danielle Arndt

08212012_NEWS_Willow_Run_Bu.JPG

This was the outside of the Willow Run Community Schools' bus garage Tuesday. Renovations to accommodate Ypsilanti Public Schools' buses and drivers are expected to be complete before school starts.

Daniel Brenner I AnnArbor.com

Contractors are working against the clock at the site of Ypsilanti and Willow Run school districts’ soon-to-be shared transportation department and bus garage.

Combining transportation facilities was the first decision spurred on by the joint Communication and Collaboration Task Force shortly after it formed on Aug. 24, 2011.

The Washtenaw Intermediate School District will spend $405,745 on behalf of the two districts to renovate the existing Willow Run transportation facility, the Sampson Building, located near the middle and high school complex at 145 Spencer Lane.

The WISD is leasing the Sampson Building and a portion of the schools’ west parking lot from Willow Run in order to make and finance the necessary improvements to the lot and facility, said WISD Superintendent Scott Menzel. The WISD operates busing for Ypsilanti, Willow Run and Ann Arbor through a transportation consortium that was started in 2010.

The cost of the lease will be shared between Ypsilanti and Willow Run based on the number of regular-route school buses each district has.

08212012_NEWS_Willow_Run_Bu-1.JPG

New doors have been installed at the former Willow Run bus garage to allow for more parking. The garage is being transformed into a joint transportation facility for both Ypsilanti and Willow Run.

Daniel Brenner I AnnArbor.com

Willow Run’s willingness to combine transportation facilities was somewhat of a relief for Ypsilanti officials, who would have been faced with either significant remediation of its existing building, or buying, building or leasing a new facility. Menzel said the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) cited Ypsilanti’s existing building as inoperable.

Because most of the renovations were triggered by the need for Ypsilanti’s drivers and buses to occupy the facility as well, Ypsilanti will be on the hook for a greater portion of the costs. The two districts will be billed for the repayment of the improvement projects throughout the next three years, Menzel said.

The renovations include expanding the lounge area in the garage to hold more employees and adding an extra men’s and women’s restroom, said Thomas Moore, director of transportation for the WISD.

“There is seating in there for approximately 10 at this time. We’ll be adding enough for about 30. Not all of the drivers use this area. Most are out on the road or going home in between runs,” Moore said. “And the bathrooms only have one stall each, which is not going to work for 70 employees.”

The west parking lot, formerly for staff, at Willow Run High School will be transformed into a second bus lot for the approximately 20 additional school buses that Ypsilanti schools will bring. Fencing for security and block heaters and electrical outlets for the buses will be installed at the lot.

Teachers and staff now will be required to park with the students in the student parking lot, where "there is more than enough room to accommodate them,” Moore said.

08212012_NEWS_Willow_Run_Bu-2.JPG

General laborer Alex Bacon (left) and foreman Ron Lacasse build studs to install dry wall for the employee lounge at the future joint Ypsilanti and Willow Run bus garage.

Daniel Brenner I AnnArbor.com

The overhead doors to the bus garage will be reconfigured to allow for two buses to be parked in the garage for maintenance at once. Currently, just one bus will fit in the garage because of how the doors were placed, Moore said, explaining the overall square footage of the building is not changing.

Sampson is about five miles farther from Ypsilanti High School, the most outlying building in the district, than Ypsilanti’s existing bus facility, at 800 Railroad St. However, Moore said the travel time will be about the same because of the long traffic lights and a railroad crossing that the buses encounter in their trek from the existing facility to the high school.

The WISD’s Board of Education did not approve the renovations and award the project bid until the end of June. Work began in July. Moore said the improvements are expected to be complete the week before school starts on Sept. 4. Everything appears to be on schedule to meet the looming deadline, he said.

School officials had hoped merging transportation facilities would allow the two districts to reduce their use of Trinity Transportation Group, the private company that currently buses School of Choice students to and from both districts, by combining some runs to travel to both Ypsilanti and Willow Run. Hundreds of students from Ypsilanti schools attend Willow Run schools, and vice versa, via school choice programs.

Moore said while the idea is good in theory, it presents a logistical nightmare this close to the start of school.

"(Merging routes) would require the coordination of bell times and calendars between the two districts," he said. "...We may be progressing over to something like that. ... But it would be very complicated and probably present more problems than it would allow us to gain in any other efficiencies."


View Bus Garages in a larger map

Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.

Comments

Fat Bill

Sat, Aug 25, 2012 : 3:45 p.m.

These districts need to hurry up and merge already; the schedules could then be set by a single administrative decree and the students and taxpayers could begin to reap the benefits of economy of scale.

jns131

Sun, Aug 26, 2012 : 1:26 p.m.

With the closing of WR hi school this year, the merger will happen after teachers are rehired to teach at WR. This will combine with Ypsilanti Consolidated. I know of two teachers who are not happy to have to re apply for their jobs. I told them to get over it. The bus drivers and monitors had to do this 2 years ago. What comes around goes around.

jns131

Sat, Aug 25, 2012 : 1:06 p.m.

Logistical nightmare and ending private busing. They should have thought of this before the end of the school year when they knew they were going to merge. Can't wait to see the fun begin. 2 years ago revisited.

slave2work

Sat, Aug 25, 2012 : 3:42 p.m.

Sounds to me that the timing was on WISD not the schools.. they didn't give out the bid till june. So they delayed it.