The new FCRTA maintenance facility will include a 10,000 square-foot, four-bay maintenance facility and a 5,000 square-foot dispatching and administration office in Selma. Rendering photo by Frank Lopez

The Fresno County Rural Transit Agency (FCRTA) broke ground for its new Operations and Maintenance facility in Selma at 1821 Pacific Ave. Friday — an event that included elected leaders such as Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, Parlier Mayor Beltran, Fresno County Supervisor Steve Brandau, and Selma Mayor Scott Robertson.

The $15 million project will provide a centralized location for the FCRTA fleet and its operations, and to help mitigate potential air quality impacts with electric vehicles (EV) and solar energy to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels.

The new facility will service the entire county including underserved communities and unincorporated areas.

Measure C funding provided $10 million for the overall design and construction, with the remaining $5 million being leveraged by various state grants and a Federal Transit Administration grant.

The new center will include a 10,000 square-foot, four-bay maintenance facility and a 5,000 square-foot dispatching and administration office.

The facility will be named in honor of the late David Cardenas, former mayor of Fowler and FCRTA board chair.

 

FCRTA General Manager Moses Stites said construction is expected to create 80-100 jobs during built out. The facility will have about 40-50 positions, with some of them being transfers.

Stites said they are developing a microgrid resilience hub which will generate 1 megawatt of power.

Construction is expected to be completed by January 2024.

Stites said having a connected transportation system will improve the lives of residents and spark interest from business and developers.

The contractor is Zumwalt Construction of Fresno.

Even though the new center will be in Selma, Mayor Beltran said it will benefit Parlier as well as other cities and towns in the county.

“This is a start. This is beginning of what we have to do to get those transportation needs to the rural communities and unincorporated communities as well, Beltran said.