Yuma seeks grant for Hotel Del Sol project
City holds on to idea of converting historic building into transportation hub
Yuma officials are not giving up the dream. The city is again applying for a federal grant to convert the historic Hotel Del Sol into a multimodal transportation hub.
The City Council on May 20 unanimously adopted a resolution supporting the application for a Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Transportation Discretionary Grants program to complete the development of the transit center.
The city has long presented the project as an effort to provide the community with alternate methods to get to and from school, work and daily events as well as a way to create opportunities for economic revitalization in the region.
According to a staff report, transforming the Hotel Del Sol for use as a transit center will enhance access to the downtown area. As a multimodal hub, it would accommodate several modes of transportation, including its continued use as the Yuma County Area Transit’s main transfer point for riders to walk downtown or connect to another route in the system.
Proposals call for using the hub as a host for Greyhound bus ticketing, an Amtrak terminal and a Yuma Police Department substation. The exterior could include a pedestrian plaza, rideshare areas, and designated crossings to the nearby Amtrak depot and Armed Services Park.
The project is also anticipated to promote private sector development by incorporating prime commercial space into the facility and surrounding properties.
This is the seventh attempt to secure federal funding for the project. In July 2019, the city submitted its sixth grant application to the U.S. Department of Transportation seeking funds for the project. The city’s last application made it all the way through the last office toward final approval last year. However, in October, the city learned the application was not selected as one of the final awardees.
On Feb. 18, DOT announced the availability of $1 billion in infrastructure grant funds through the BUILD program, which supports roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports or intermodal transportation. The grant will be awarded on a competitive basis to projects that have a significant local or regional impact.
The idea of a transit hub goes back to a 1995-2015 Countywide Transportation Study prepared by local planning and transportation stakeholders to address the transportation needs for residents and visitors. The study recognized the need for public transportation services within Yuma County, in addition to the existing private intercity bus services and Amtrak rail services, the staff
report indicates.
Creating a safe and convenient place to accommodate rail passengers sparked the need for an additional feasibility study. The Yuma Multi-Modal Transportation Study/Feasibility Study was completed in 2010 with input from
private consultants, local transportation agencies, city and county governments, the general public, surrounding border communities and other community stakeholders.
The study evaluated how to improve transportation mobility throughout the community and region, raise the image and profile of transportation services, stimulate economic development
and redevelopment in adjacent areas, and enhance the historic and architectural heritage of the local communities.
One of the conclusions of the feasibility study was that a multimodal transportation center was needed for the Yuma region. Out of 16 potential sites, the Hotel Del Sol was selected as the final site based on the location, the relationship to existing
transportation services, the potential to complement the surrounding area, safety, cost-effectiveness and land availability.
For this latest grant application, city staff collaborated with multiple departments and divisions and various local outside agencies to submit an application “that reflects the best efforts of the City of Yuma and its needs.”