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Multimodal depot planned for Talent By MEG LANDERS TALENT - Residents of Talent are one step closer to having a multimodal transportation depot. The Oregon Department of Transportation approved a $177,000 grant to help build a transit center downtown. The money is being funneled through the Rogue Valley Transportation District. "It's a pretty big deal," says Scott Chancey, senior planner at RVTD. More than a mere bus stop, he says, this center could accommodate bicycles, park-and-ride commuters, buses, a Talent shuttle service and a possible commuter rail currently under study. "Basically, it's a connecting point," says Chancey. He says the money from ODOT will go toward paving, lighting, passenger amenities and informational displays at the site, located across Main Street from the skateboard park. He credits Talent civic leader Marla Cates with the whole idea. Cates has been working for the past six years to establish a transportation hub linking auto, bus, bicycle and pedestrian traffic. She's raised $515,000 of the $746,000 needed for the project, which will include a depot designed as a re-creation of Talent's original train depot, which was torn down about 60 years ago. Cates, project manager for the Talent Transportation Depot and chair of the architectural review committee, wrote the proposal that won the ODOT grant. She is excited about developing a transit center. "It means that there are a variety of transportation methods that can use this as a hub," she says. The plan for the site includes bus passenger loading areas, 50 parking spaces, bicycle lockers, old-fashioned landscaping and fencing and a 24-by-60-foot depot. Designed from old photos, the depot plans include everything from a loading dock and bay windows to a brick veneer chimney and triangular decorative panels. Cates says she wants to maintain the historic, small-town feel of Talent. "It just feels cozy and friendly," says the 22-year resident. "People like it. "We still have the old town core which is still the center of town," she adds. Cates, who began working on this project six years ago, says other supporters include the city of Talent, the Talent Urban Renewal Agency and the Oregon Department of Economic Development. While this money brings her closer to her dream, she admits there's still a lot of work to do. "It'll probably be done in the next five years," says Cates. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.