LYNCHBURG, Va. – In a few weeks, the Greater Lynchburg Transit Company will hold pop-up sessions to discuss whether there should be a new bus route on Florida Avenue.
This comes after some City Council members were split and didn't approve of funding a $9-million sidewalk for that community.
City leaders who represent residents along Florida Avenue are looking to construct a new sidewalk because they say it's unsafe for people who have to walk.
The $9.9 million proposal eventually passed 5-2 in a City Council meeting on May 7.
In that same meeting, the council also learned that a bus can drive below the train trestle even though it had been told it could not for several years.
Officials with the transit company say the pop- up sessions will help them decide whether there's a need for a new bus route in the area.
“We are conducting (pop-up sessions) to inform individuals of our desire to collect information on the potential need for bus service to run along Florida Avenue, which would connect Greenfield Drive to Grace Street and potentially points beyond,” Brian Booth, general manager with GLTC, said.
Booth says this week and next week they will be riding Routes 1A, 1B and 2 in the mornings and afternoons -- these routes currently provide service to the Florida Avenue corridor.
Additional pop-ups have been scheduled at the Fairview Center on Thursday, July 11, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Monday, July 15, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
GLTC is still working with organizations to schedule additional pop ups at the Food Lion on Florida Avenue, James Crossing, Jubilee Center and KDC-One.
“Our plan is to add these throughout the month of July so they could be scheduled at any time before or after the existing pop ups scheduled,” Booth said. “(We will) continue gathering information before we finalize and report back to the GLTC Board and City Council."