The new $5.5 million AppalCART transit facility on the N.C. 105 bypass will not be ready in time for the fall semester.

Although the project — funded through the 2009 federal economic stimulus package — was originally scheduled for completion in fall 2010, contractor disputes and site issues have caused a number of delays.

The facility will become the new hub of the Watauga County transit service, funded jointly by Appalachian State University, Watauga County, the town of Boone and state and federal transportation departments. AppalCART long ago outgrew its current facility, located at 274 Winkler’s Creek Road.

“Construction on the new AppalCART facility is ongoing,” said Transportation Director Chris Turner. “The contractor is working on erecting the last canopy, which will cover all our vans and about a dozen buses. They have been hitting water in the footer holes, which has slowed progress.”

Other than construction of the canopies, the facility lacks only a few tasks for completion, including connecting a bus wash to the water system, testing heating and air conditioning systems and installing a radio system, Turner said.

“Other than that it’s pretty well done,” he added.

The project was halted for some time in 2011, when contractor McCarroll Construction of Arden began to experience financial problems due in part to subcontractors going out of business.

Following an audit and mediation session, NCDOT agreed to provide a $300,000 grant to the project so that McCarroll Construction could finish the job.

“We will likely be operating out of the existing facility a while after the semester begins,” said Turner. The property on Winkler’s Creek Road will revert back to the county, which purchased the tract in 1980 when AppalCART was a county department.

New routes, stops in 2012-13

AppalCART’s fall semester schedule begins Aug. 20, and new bus schedules have been printed, Turner said.

Turner recommends that new and regular riders check out the new schedules, as arrival times may have changed at various stops.

“Most routes will be pretty much the same,” he said.

With the purchase of two used buses from the city of Gastonia, AppalCART will add a new Silver route and a second bus on the Purple route. The Silver route will travel the POP105 route — a loop from campus to N.C. 105 to the N.C. 105 bypass to U.S. 421 back to campus — in the opposite, counterclockwise direction.

The POP105 route will no longer stop at Caldwell Community College on the N.C. 105 bypass; the Silver route will serve the community college campus instead.

“It will enable POP105 to run a little more smoothly time-wise,” said Turner.

The second bus on the Purple route means buses will arrive at stops approximately every 15 minutes — instead of every 30 minutes — during the busiest times of day.

Thanks to state and federal funding, AppalCART’s local share of costs for the two used buses was $24,000, he said. The used buses are expected to last about four or five years.

For more information or questions about AppalCART, call (828) 262-2278 or visit http://www.appalcart.com.