The City of DeKalb has been awarded $12 million for construction of a bus transit facility.
The funding was part of the Rebuild Illinois Round II awards announced by Gov. Pritzker on Jan. 26. The City is receiving the full amount requested for construction of a transit maintenance and operations facility.
This most recent funding is in addition to $5 million the City received from Round 1 of Rebuild Illinois 2020. City Transit Manager Marcus Cox said the $17 million in state grant funding will help continue moving the transit facility project forward while also supporting the City with future Federal Transit Administration (FTA) competitive grant applications.
“We're extremely fortunate to have been selected to receive such a substantial amount of Rebuild Illinois funding,” said Cox. “The money received will be used to support the ongoing and future costs of our Transit Maintenance and Operations Facility that will allow us to enhance the infrastructure of our transit system in order to better serve our passengers."
The new facility would be able to house the entire transit fleet for the DeKalb Urbanized Area. Currently, most of the 50 vehicles are parked outside with little weather protection, leaving them prone to costly maintenance issues.
The DeKalb City Council has appointed a seven-member committee to recommend a site for the transit facility.