Project will temporarily relocate North Huntingdon park-and-ride lot

A nearly $1.7 million construction and resurfacing project at Westmoreland County Transit’s park-and-ride lot in North Huntingdon will begin in mid-March, temporarily forcing hundreds of daily commuters to catch the bus about a mile away at a vacant Allegheny County store lot.

Transit authority board members last week approved a $1.67 million contract with Michael Facchiano Contracting of Pittsburgh to redo the gravel parking lot that sits adjacent to a Sheetz store near Carpenter Lane. Authority officials said workers will pave and add lights to the lot that can accommodate more than 300 vehicles.

Facchiano submitted the lowest of 13 bids for the work, officials said.

Merit Electrical of Oakmont will be paid $72,575 to install lights at the location.

“The parking lot is in bad shape and only a small portion is now paved. A majority of people are now parking on stone,” said Ashley Cooper-Brounce, the authority fiscal manager.

The North Huntingdon lot is the largest of the authority’s park-and-ride sites and serves as the primary hub for riders who commute daily into Pittsburgh. Cooper-Brounce said 15 buses on two routes stop at that location to load and unload passengers for both the morning and evening commutes.

Construction is expected to take about eight months.

The authority leased the parking lot at the former Kmart store on Route 30 in North Versailles to serve as its temporary park and ride lot during the construction period. The transit agency will pay $90,000 to lease the lot through the end of November, Cooper-Brounce said.

Riders will begin using the temporary park-and-ride lot in March 9, she said.