The Soldotna City Council passed a resolution supporting the efforts of the Kenaitze Indian Tribe to secure grant funding for fixed-route bus service on the Central Kenai Peninsula.
Councilman Jordan Chilson is the resolution’s sponsor:
“The Kenaitze Tribe is applying for a grant through the Federal Transit Administration. The gist of it is they are trying to establish a two-year pilot project for a fixed bus route system that would span three essential corridors on the central peninsula area. The first corridor that they would service would be from Nikiski through Kenai down to Soldotna. The second being Sterling through Soldotna down to the K-Beach/Sterling intersection and the other being the K-Beach/Sterling intersection looping down to K-Beach and to the Kenai area. Again, it’s a two-year pilot with two active routs that span those three sections. Their idea being that these would be a regularly scheduled service that would operate, I believe it’s Monday through Saturday. Then they would have bus stop signs that would go up mounted on existing street signs that would say bus stop and have some kind of Kenaitze branding on it as well.”
Director of Economic Development and Planning for the City of Soldotna, John Czarnezki added:
“In speaking with Brandi Bell of the Kenaitze Indian Tribe, she had indicated that their intent for this program is not to compete with the CARTS or the cab companies. It’s, really, to partner with them. Their response, so far that she said they received from the Borough and from the City of Kenai is, they also feel it would enhance those systems in that this fixed route would get people from one general location to another and then they would be able to use either a cab or CARTS or other service.”
The need for enhanced public transit was identified in the City of Soldotna’s comprehensive plan, Envision Soldotna 2030, and includes a goal to support small-scale public transit within Soldotna and between Soldotna. The grant application is due Wednesday, August 25, 2021.