- By Wendy Skinner
- Around Town
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The bridge, which was completely closed for several weeks this fall, is now open to northbound traffic. The last time the bridge was open, only southbound traffic was allowed. The change in direction has required TCAT to redesign its detours.
New schedules for Routes 12, 30, 32, and all of the Route 80s and 90s will be available soon, and TCAT has begun distributing a flyer to alert riders to the coming changes. Riders on the affected routes should be aware that direction, times, and location of certain bus stops may be changed and to refer to the new schedules or contact TCAT for assistance.
“We wanted to give our riders some advance notice of yet another change to the detours,” said Wendy Skinner, a TCAT spokesperson. The rebuilding of the Thurston Avenue Bridge, in the heart of the Cornell campus, has played havoc with ten heavily-used TCAT routes, said Skinner, and ridership numbers have suffered. “Our overall ridership is down a little. Some of the detours aren’t as convenient for people as the regular routes were.”
There is some good news, though. The new detours will be in place until March 2007. The Route 10 Cornell-downtown shuttle is unaffected, and the Route 30, which connects the Ithaca Commons with the Pyramid Mall, will return to its pre-construction route on the way to the mall. These are TCAT’s two most popular routes, said Skinner.
“Riders may also find several of the new detours to be more direct and easier to use,” said Skinner. “As winter weather approaches, we are glad to be able to offer some small improvements in spite of the bridge construction.”
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