City of Lawton ready to begin designs for new indoor mass transit center

City of Lawton officials are ready to move into the design phase of their first indoor mass transit center.

Members of the City Council, acting today in their capacity as the City Transit Trust, will consider a staff recommendation to approve the fee and scope of work with Wendel WD Architecture for a new LATS transfer center and maintenances/operation facilities. The approval authorizes the firm to begin work on professional engineering and architectural designs for facilities that will be located between Railroad and Larrance streets, Southeast B to Southeast D avenues. Approved by the transit trust earlier this summer, the site is located on 6 acres of city-owned property directly south of the Lawton Public Safety Center. That proximity to Lawton Police Department was one of the selling points for trustees who approved the location.

The $494,705 contract will include conceptual designs to preliminary and construction designs, along with site analysis, infrastructure improvements, and cost estimate for the project, according to the contract. Eighty percent of the project will be funded with federal grant funds, leaving Lawton to cover 20 percent of construction costs.

The contract envisions three distinct buildings:

• A transfer center with space for transit dispatchers, a ticket counter to sell passes to LATS and other regional bus services expected to use the facility, a passenger waiting area, restrooms, and a break room for bus drivers. It will provide holding space for the eight to 10 fixed route LATS buses and other buses, along with a parking area for other vehicles. Work also will include utilities and roadway improvements that may be needed.

• An operations facility with offices for day-to-day operations, restrooms, kitchen, training and conference room, and a break room for employees.

• A maintenance facility, attached to the operations facility, with a bus wash bay, six to eight maintenance bays, additional paved area for parking buses and other LATS vehicles, additional parking for other vehicles, and a fueling station for the traditional fuel pumps and an electrical charging station that is being discussed for new LATS buses. Wendel WD Architecture also is to provide support for LATS personnel who will file for a federal grant in 2024 to cover the cost of buying electric buses.

Transit trust members approved the site in July, dropping plans for two other sites discussed in recent months: a commercial tract in the 1200 block of West Gore Boulevard; and the old police station site at Southwest 4th Street and West Gore Boulevard. The decision has been met with criticism from some residents who say many LATS riders prefer the new indoor transfer center to be located at the old police station site because it keeps it downtown and only two blocks from outdoor transfer site at Southwest 4th Street and Southwest B Avenue.

In a related item, the City Transit Trust will consider approving its new agreement with Lawton Public Schools to keep providing a service the two entities have cooperated on since early 2017: free rides on LATS fixed route buses to LPS students and staff. In exchange for a payment of $70,000 from Lawton Public Schools, LATS allows all students and staff to ride fixed route buses any time they are running, free of charge, by showing their school ID badges.

The one-year agreement allows students to ride the buses any time, to include weekends and summer months, and is a service that school administrators say allows more students to participate in after-school activities because they now have a way home. The service also supplements LPS bus service because every school facility is on a LATS route or within an easy walk.