Lextran will hold the ribbon cutting and grand opening for their new headquarters at 10 a.m. on Wednesday May 25, 2016.
The new Lextran headquarters is home to a state-of-the-art maintenance facility located at 200 West Loudon Ave., a 13.69-acre site located at the intersection of West Loudon Avenue and Russell Cave Road, the former location of the GE Lighting Kentucky Glass Plant.
Lextran combined maintenance, operations, and administrative functions at 200 West Loudon Avenue from previous locations at 101, 105, and 109 West Loudon Avenue as well as satellite offices at 105 Spruce Street, behind Central Christian Church.
“Lextran’s new headquarters allows us to better serve our ridership, contributes to the neighborhood, and invests in the future of transit for Lexington” said Jeff Fugate, chairman of the Lextran Board of Directors.
The new facilities will improve reliability of the bus fleet operations with seven fully-equipped maintenance bays. The previous garage at 109 West Loudon provided only two fully-equipped bays.
“We expect the additional maintenance capacity to reduce vehicle downtime and provide improved service reliability for customers. Ultimately, it will help us offer better, more efficient and cost-effective service,” said Carrie Butler.
The facility is also equipped with a new fueling station for diesel and gasoline vehicles. In June, construction will begin on a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fueling component to accommodate the 7 CNG vehicles that began revenue service earlier this month. A temporary fueling solution is being utilized until construction is completed.
“With our new CNG vehicles and fueling, we anticipate reductions in our annual fuel costs as well as air quality improvements throughout the community,” Butler said.
The new CNG vehicles were purchased using a federal Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) grant. Lextran expects to add 5 new battery-electric no emissions vehicles to their fleet later this year, which were obtained through a Federal Low or No-Emissions vehicle grant program.
Further demonstrating a commitment to sustainability, the entire Lextran campus is tobacco-free and the facilities are eligible for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification through the U.S. Green Building Council. Another sustainable component of the new site are the bioswales along the Loudon Avenue side of the property. The bioswales, along with permeable pavers, were funded through a stormwater improvement grant from LFUCG. The complete LEED certification process takes about six months.
Lextran’s 186 employees also will benefit from the new facilities, which will better accommodate split shifts by giving employees a place to stay between shifts as well as improve health and wellness by providing workout facilities, showers and proximity to the Legacy Trail.
In addition to reducing operating costs through LEED certification, the new facilities will save Lextran more than $38,000 per year in rent expenses.
Lextran was successful in securing and leveraging federal grants and tax credits for their new facility, which reduced the total local portion of the project to about 25 percent.
Soon, Lextran will begin the standard procurement process to sell the existing property at 109 West Loudon Avenue, including advertising through the media and on its website. A community meeting about is anticipated for mid-summer.
“We want to make every effort to ensure the property will be used in a way that will enhance the community and the North Limestone corridor,” Butler said.
