City of Durango officials hope Walmart’s parking lot will be safer in the future after both parties agreed to move the city’s bus stop away from the store’s entrances.
Durango Transit Manager Kent Harris told members of the city’s Multi-Modal Advisory Board in April that the current stop at the superstore was dangerous, but he hadn’t convinced the company to agree to move it. Days later, the two sides agreed to relocate the stop to the south side of the store, Harris said.
However, it’s unclear from Walmart’s statement to The Durango Herald if the agreement specifies the new location at the south side of the building. Walmart spokeswoman Delia Garcia declined to confirm the location.
“While there haven’t been any issues with the bus stop’s current location, we’re pleased to have reached a solution that ensures customers and associates will continue to have safe and convenient access to our store,” Garcia’s statement said.
Harris said he met with Mike Neidlinger, general manager of the Durango Walmart, in late April. Neidlinger wanted to check with Walmart officials to make sure they were OK with giving up two parking spaces to accommodate the new stop.
“It’s my understanding that we have permission ... ” Harris said.
He said the new location was on the south side of the building and that he had an email saying that; however, city officials declined to give the email to the Herald, saying the newspaper had to request it through the Open Records Act.
The stop at Walmart currently is at the front of the store between the two entrances. City staff has been concerned that pedestrians coming out of the store could get hit by a bus or the cars that drive around the buses. No one has been hit so far, but city Transit operators have said there have been close calls.
Garcia said the management in Durango only recently heard about safety concerns from the city, despite transportation officials’ claims that they’ve met with company employees since 2009.
“The safety of our customers and associates is important to us, and we’ve initiated contact with the city to better understand their concerns and establish a dialogue between the appropriate parties,” Garcia said in April.
Despite labeling the current location of the stop as dangerous, the city will keep the stop where it is until a shelter is built for the new location, expected sometime around September, Harris said.
“They have the lawn and garden (department) there also, and they were willing to move that immediately if we needed to,” he said. “I (thought there’s) really no need for that because it’s going to take us a little bit to get what we need in place.”
smueller@durangoherald.com
