Ben Franklin Transit to Renovate, Temporarily Relocate Transit Center in Richland

Beginning September 3, the Ben Franklin Transit (BFT) Knight Street Transit Center in Richland will be closed for renovations. Transit center operations will relocate onto a nearby section of Northgate Drive, which will be temporarily closed to all other traffic beginning August 26 to accommodate frequent bus activity during the renovation work.

The Knight Street Transit Center has long needed improvements including asphalt and bus platform concrete but will also be upgraded to include new amenities such as modern shelters, benches, and lighting, as well as landscaping and conduit placement for future digital signage.

To help riders navigate, signage will be placed along the temporary street-side bus staging area on Northgate to assist with finding their route connections, and BFT’s website and social media will be used to convey important rider information. The renovations are expected to begin on or around September 3 and conclude before the end of the year, with no other route or schedule impacts anticipated in the interim.

“This effort has involved a lot of collaboration with the City of Richland and Columbia Basin College to accommodate moving our transit center operations for an extended period,” said Gloria Boyce, general manager. “The City has been a great and generous partner in providing us with bus-only, street-side access nearby, and CBC has graciously agreed to allow transit customer parking near their Health Science Center, which is providing us a best-case scenario for this temporary disruption.”

​More information about Ben Franklin Transit and its services can be found at www.bft.org.