2016 Transportation Project

Transportation Center Building

The centerpiece of the Transportation Center is a new, more efficient building for servicing and maintaining the District’s 100+ buses.

This new building replaces a 50-year-old garage that is too small and under-equipped for the current demands of public school transportation.

The new Transportation Center will provide a more efficient site and resources for District personnel to keep buses and other vehicles in service and safe for the road.

Things You Should Know

• The new two-story Transportation Center encompasses some 20,000 square feet of space to accommodate offices, meeting space, maintenance bays and a wash bay.

• The District opted for a two-story structure to limit the building’s footprint on the property.

• The maintenance bays include in-ground and surface-mounted lifts for vehicle service and safety checks.

• The new building and other elements of the project will address deficiencies and areas of non-compliance noted by the State of New York in successive building standard reviews.

• Deficiencies include obsolete and crowded maintenance bays and material storage areas, and challenges with storm drainage and sanitary sewers.

Our Bus Fleet

Fairport provides daily transportation for approximately 5,700 students. We achieve this with a fleet of more than 100 buses and other vehicles.

The Transportation Center serves as home base for these vehicles and operations associated with keeping them running safely and efficiently, including fuel and maintenance.

About 120 people, drivers included, access this facility on a daily basis.

Things You Should Know

• Today’s buses are larger and more technologically advanced than when our Transportation Center was first constructed.

• The existing facility is no longer up to the task of efficiently maintaining the vehicles that serve the District.

• Our technicians can now close the bay doors while servicing our buses and performing safety checks. This wasn’t possible with the old facility.

• In accordance with approved plans, a landscaped buffer area will be installed in part to limit potential noise impacts and reduce light splash.

• Based on feedback from the community, the District reduced the number of bus parking spots from 108 to 104.

• We’ve also reduced the original design width of bus parking spots from 13 feet to 12 feet.

Fueling Stations

Like many aspects of the 50-year-old site, the fueling system at our Transportation Center was showing its age.

We’ve made a number of important improvements to enhance safety and make operations more efficient going forward. The District installed new underground fuel storage to replace aging tanks that were no longer sufficient for our needs.

The newly redesigned and updated fueling area is designed to get buses in and out quickly and safely, while seeking to minimize noise and odor impacts to nearby areas.

Things You Should Know

• The new underground fuel storage holds 20,000 gallons of fuel.

• The fueling station serves more than just Fairport schools. The District has an agreement with the following organizations to use the fueling station: Village of Fairport, Town of Perinton, Fairport, Egypt and Bushnell’s Basin Fire Departments, Fairport Police Department, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, and Perinton Ambulance.

• We installed new fuel pumps and added a canopy to increase the overall operational safety and protect drivers from inclement weather.

• Based on neighborhood feedback, the District opted to move the fuel area several feet closer to Ayrault Road.

Site Plan

The Transportation Center project allowed us to make other changes aimed at making the property function more efficiently.

For example, we will move the fence line on the northern end of the property a little further north to create space for necessary snow removal. This move also gives the town easier access to a manhole for regular sewer maintenance.

As the project progresses, we will be installing a new fence as well as new landscape features, including foliage and trees, to serve as a buffer between site operations and nearby properties. 

We recognize and acknowledge that the removal of trees and foliage has been a matter of concern for those living in the nearby neighborhood.

The District is committed to supplementing proposed measures to mitigate potential impacts from noise and light, where feasible, and in accordance with safety requirements. Please note that as with many projects, installing final landscaping features will likely be one of the final stages of work on the Transportation Center.

Things You Should Know

• The boundaries of the property will remain where they have been since the 1960s. Neither construction nor operation of the facility will expand beyond this area.

• For construction efficiency, the pre-existing fence on the property was taken down early in the project. Various branches, shrubs and other landscaping had become entangled in the fence, which required their removal.

• A new galvanized metal chain-link fence will be installed at the end of the project and will enclose the entire bus fleet.

• Approved project plans call for re-installation of various landscaping measures at the end of the project, with the final configuration to be determined later as final design is completed and implemented.

Noise, Lighting, and Safety

The Transportation Center is and has always been a busy place, with more than 100 people reporting there for work each day. As part of the project the District has installed new LED lighting poles. 

We continue to evaluate this new lighting and examine practical measures through technology to limit potential for impact on surrounding properties. Please keep in mind that adequate lighting is critical for safety and security.

As with any construction project, there has been some additional noise, but any such increase from construction is temporary.

Over the long term, we believe once the project is completed and the mitigation measures are installed, undue noise and light impacts will not be a concern.

Things You Should Know

• Exterior lighting is needed to illuminate the lot as employees and visitors walk to and from their cars.  

• The District continues to evaluate the lighting as it relates to site safety and security and balancing that with light splash concerns. 

• Enhanced lighting technology  is being used to reduce light levels during evening hours.

• As to noise, the district engaged a professional acoustics and noise control consulting firm to review the project during design.

• On the firm’s recommendation, we have incorporated noise-reducing ceiling panels in the garage area, lessening noise created by vehicle maintenance.