New transit center coming to Clearwater after city signs land-swap agreement with PSTA

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The lot at the corner of Court Street and Myrtle Avenue in Clearwater sits vacant for now, but will soon become the site of a new Clearwater Transit Center. Officials with the City of Clearwater on Friday morning signed a land-swap agreement with the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority allowing the agency to build a new facility on the site. 

The signing came after council members voted Thursday night to approve the deal. After more than a decade of talks, PSTA officials hope the new facility will transform transportation in northern Pinellas County. Transit leaders envision the project as a hub for more than 700,000 people who use buses, rideshares and bikes to get to and from downtown Clearwater. 

The new transit center is aimed at relieving area traffic congestion and replacing a 40-year-old facility nearby "that can no longer serve the bus routes in the area, cannot handle modern electric buses, and was built before the Americans with Disabilities Act," according to an announcement from PSTA. 

The land-swap agreement allows PSTA to assume ownership of the formerly city-owned lot, valued at roughly $3.6 million. In exchange, the city will receive the PSTA site at South Garden Avenue and Pierce Street where the current facility is located, valued at roughly $1.8 million. During a Monday work session several days before city council voted on the deal, Clearwater city attorney David Margolis presented council members with the finalized contract which included one condition. 

"The contract includes a provision saying that we will not close on a real estate, meaning we won't exchange title unless and until PSTA has shown proof that they have the funding to actually build the terminal. They had no objection to that," Margolis said. 

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The transit authority recently received $20 million in federal grants from the U.S. Department of Transportaion, which required a portion of the funds to be matched by the city. The remainder of the funding will come from state and local agencies and organizations.

Construction is set to begin next year.