The Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) could soon have a new $20 million downtown transit hub located away from the current transit mall on Walnut Street, which would eliminate a large safety nightmare and improve amenities for riders.

The I-JOBS bill, which Gov. Chet Culver signed April 26, includes $4 million in funding for DART’s No. 1 legislative priority. The new transit hub, is now just one, albeit shaky, step from reality as its fate now balances on whether the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) awards the remaining funding through its Livability Grant program. The funds must only be used to help build capital infrastructure, not to assist in paying the cost of daily operations.

Elizabeth Presutti, DART’s chief development officer, said she should learn in June whether the project was chosen. If all goes well, she said, the transit hub could be open for operation as early as the beginning of 2012.

The 21,000-square-foot two-story facility – not including the loading area under a canopy – would be on about 1.5 acres of land between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Street just south of the Polk County Jail and Cherry Street. A portion of the land is being donated by Polk County, and the rest must be purchased from Wells Fargo & Co. An existing building that is owned by the county would need to be demolished.

DART’s desire to move away from Walnut Street stems from the agency’s ongoing efforts to improve safety. Presutti said a majority of the pedestrian accidents DART vehicles have been involved in have taken place within the vicinity of the transit mall.

“The pedestrian paths are everywhere,” she said of Walnut Street Transit Mall. “It’s the closest from A to B. It is the customer’s path. So the sheer magnitude of pedestrians everywhere and the turning onto the transit mall in order for the transfer function to take place, that I think has not helped the situation.”

To help control where pedestrians walk, the design of the new transit hub will do a better job directing passengers where DART wants them to go.

“We have done a lot of the work on the design such that we make it very uncomfortable for a pedestrian to be somewhere they are not supposed to be,” Presutti said. “It will be very uncomfortable for a customer to want to dart out across the travel lanes where the buses are at the hub because it won’t feel like they are supposed to be there.”

The new facility would also be climate controlled, have public restrooms, contain some staff offices and provide a full customer service center for passengers to get help, find schedules, buy bus passes and get IDs – all amenities the current transit mall lacks. There is also the possibility for a coffeehouse or small business vending opportunity.

Although the new hub will be located a few blocks south of the current transit mall, DART doesn’t foresee any ridership loss.

“It is not like we are going to remove ourselves from traversing downtown; it will just be in a different way,” Presutti said.

In fact, the added amenities give hope to DART that it might actually increase ridership.

“Amenities have been proven time and time again to attract more ridership, and I think this is the next step in our development of attracting a larger ridership base,” Presutti said. “You might have to walk a block or two farther, but when you get there, they are in a nice climate-controlled area with music and the opportunity to get a cup of coffee or do whatever while they wait.”

With the move and the lack of DART’s presence on Walnut Street, Presutti said there is a possibility the street-level corridor could be revitalized and reintroduced to small businesses. Presutti said Des Moines’ downtown plan called for pursuing the new transit hub so those possibilities would exist.

But the future plans still hinge on getting federal funding. If DART doesn’t receive funding in June, Presutti said, it will halt design by Substance Architecture at 60 percent until funding is secured. She also heard, however, that several more grant opportunities will become available this summer that could be awarded before the end of the calendar year.

Presutti said DART’s regional FTA office is aware of the safety situation and is hopeful DART will receive the remaining 80 percent of the funds so it can build the facility.

“I’m as optimistic as I can be,” Presutti said. “Hopefully between one of these opportunities, the project will fit the bill and move forward.”