After some discussion from last November, the Kenaitze Indian Tribe has made steps forward in getting a bus system for the community.
The Tribal Council announced on February 9th that they have purchased the former Kendall Ford property in Kenai to serve as its transportation center.
The last time the community heard an update regarding the transportation system was November 30th, 2023.
Bryant Wright, the Planner for Kenaitze Transportation shared a PowerPoint presentation on the proposed Kahtnu Area Transit. Here, the planner was also able to gather some community input as to what bus stops would be most beneficial to the community.
“Access to reliable transportation is a major barrier for many community members. The Tribe continues to work to fill in the gaps to meet the need. We’re excited to have a facility to house our Transportation program, and to help our Tribe and our community thrive,” said Tribal Council Chair Bernadine Atchison.
The new name of the building will be Hetl Qenq’a, which in Dena’ina, means “Sled House.”
The new facility is located at 10288 Kenai Spur Highway in Kenai, at the corner of Marathon Road. The building has 20,177 square feet of floor space and a 4,136-square-foot mezzanine. The hope is that this building will be able to provide a space for cleaning and maintaining the Tribe’s vehicles, which in turn, will extend the life of the fleet. It will also be used as an office space to hold conferences and training sessions for current and future transportation staff.
“We have been working with the Federal Transit Administration since 2019 to identify a location and building. It is with gratitude to those staff who worked with the Tribal Council to come up with options when we had roadblocks. This is a significant partnership, we will have with the FTA as it will provide a building, fleet, and support staff for our Transportation program,” Atchison said.
Currently, the Tribe’s Transportation fleet has a total of 65 vehicles, including minivans and SUVs, full-size vans, trucks, shuttle buses, and full-size buses. In 2023, the Transportation program provided 12,840 rides for people who receive services from the Tribe.
The Tribe is close to launching the Kahtnu Area Transit fixed-route bus service for the central Kenai Peninsula, and Hetl Qenq’a will serve as its hub.
