Valley Transit District Celebrates Renovation, Expansion

Valley Transit District Dispatcher Dave O’Dell has seen a lot in his 40 years on the job — but since the VTD facility in downtown Derby was renovated this year, he sees a lot more. 

The dispatch center in the building was upgraded from a small space with narrow vertical windows to a ​“fishbowl” office with large windows providing sightlines of the entire back entrance, parking lot, fueling stations and van wash bay.

The work was one of many recent upgrades to the 38-year-old building celebrated during a ceremony Tuesday (June 19).

“I think it’s great, especially for dispatch because I have visibility now,” O’Dell said. 

Before the renovations at the building, situated between Route 8 and the Derby Train Station near Home Depot, ​“I was kind of restricted,” O’Dell said. ​“This way I can see the buses fueling up, and everything else.”

During Tuesday’s ceremony officials from the Valley Transit District and the state Department of Transportation held a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the $8.2 million renovation and expansion, which was 10 years in the making. 

Planning started in 2008 and construction began in 2016. 

The project increased the building size by 33 percent, from 12,000 to 16,000 square feet. 

The concrete-block structure built around 1980 was clad in panels which allowed insulation and better protection against weather — and gives the headquarters a more modern look.

The work also included the construction of a new 2,200-square-foot washing bay for vans. 

“I love it,” Valley Transit District Executive Director Mark Pandolfi said in an interview before the ceremony. “It’s very uplifting, very modern looking. It’s a bright star in an area that has kind of been neglected.”

Pandolfi said the upgrade will help the Valley Transit District keep up with demand, and, he hopes, expand service.

“Right now I would like to add two more vehicles,” Pandolfi said. “That’s just for our current service. If we did any expansion of services, we would need more.”

The district currently has 14 vans.

VTD sees about 70,000 to 75,000 one-way ride requests each year, Pandolfi said, from both its Dial-a-Ride service and its vans servicing people with disabilities along the Route 8 and Route 34 corridors.

About 75 percent of the district’s calls are for Dial-a-Ride, but Pandolfi expects to see an increase in ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) needs in the coming years. He’d also like to expand north of Seymour, into underserved public transportation areas.

The renovations give VTD flexibility to expand as needed, according to architect Bob Grzywacz, of DeCarlo & Doll. The general contractor was O&G Industries.

Because the building lot is restricted by the highway and the railroad, DeCarlo & Doll designed an expansion to the front and back of the building.

“It’s just really a tight space,” Grzywacz said of the 1.7-acre site.

An 800-square-foot addition to the maintenance bay allows space for larger busses, should VTD ever upgrade. A 1,150-square-foot addition to the garage leaves room for 20 vans, or seven full-size buses with 13 vans, Grzywacz said.

The garage upgrade also added a third garage door — there were two before — so vans can line up in three rows without as much maneuvering.

The addition to the front of the building provided about 1,310 square feet of administrative space. Security fencing and cameras were added. 

A new fueling station now includes both diesel and propane — an ​“innovative” first for a transit district in Connecticut, according to Dennis Solensky, the transit administrator for the Department of Transportation. 

“The decisions you’ve made across the board are outstanding,” Solensky said, during the ceremony. 

Originally budgeted for $7.8 million, the renovations were funded 80 percent by the Federal Transportation Administration and 20 percent by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. Pandolfi said contaminated soil on the site required more expensive removal than expected, and other unexpected costs came up during the construction process. 

Mark Lauretti, Shelton’s mayor and the chair of the Valley Transit District board of directors, said the completed renovation demonstrates an improvement for the district from 10 years ago. 

“If you look at what we’ve accomplished from an operational standpoint and a financial standpoint, it’s remarkable,” Lauretti said during the ceremony. ​“Valley Transit is a success as we stand here today.”