Merlo Bus Fuel & Wash Facility and LIFT Building

 

The Merlo Bus Maintenance Facility cleans and fuels 111 buses each day. About 120 LIFT operators are dispatched from the Westside facility and provide 265,000 door-to-door trips annually for those unable to ride regular fixed-route service.

The old Fuel/Wash building had been in failing condition for many years. Additionally, the adjacent LIFT paratransit facility that supported TriMet’s westside operations of door-to-door ADA service was leased, and the building owners decided to take back this building for their own use. This $10.6 million stimulus project constructed a new 19,000 sq. ft. building to replace the aging and inefficient bus fueling and wash facilities and a new 4,700 sq. ft. LIFT operations building.

The project was made possible by federal stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The Merlo construction project had been planned for a decade, but there were no funds to move it forward until stimulus dollars became available.

Job retention

The two facilities were constructed by Skanska, as general contractor, which in turn utilized 45 subcontractors and suppliers for the project, employing more than 275 people and retaining about 30 jobs.

TriMet’s Merlo Facility project had a specifically tailored and monitored environmental program, including:

• 96 solar panels
• use of low VOC paints, adhesives and sealants
• high efficiency irrigation systems
• efficient on-site storm treatment design
• energy-efficient HVAC systems and light fixtures
• daylight harvesting
• the recycling of construction waste

About TriMet stimulus funds

TriMet was awarded $53.7 million in federal stimulus funds to be used to fix failing infrastructure, make the transit system more robust and put Oregonians to work. It’s estimated that federal stimulus dollars funded approximately 181,895 job hours with a payroll of $9.85 million as of January 31, 2011.