MOUNT VERNON — Knox Area Transit’s Village Express Shuttle Service to Mount Vernon is ready for full launch Monday morning, KAT Director Martin McAvoy informed the Knox County Commissioners this week.
He passed out brochures while offering all systems are set for “go” mode, ready to take passengers from Centerburg, Danville and Fredericktown to Mount Vernon each morning, while additionally providing the same routes and stopping points in the afternoon.
The morning routes will take village residents to various stopping points in Mount Vernon. Pickups in the three villages will occur every hour on the hour from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Those with bicycles can bring them as each shuttle has bike racks. On-the-hour pickup points in each village will be:
•Centerburg: Corner of South Clayton and East Main streets
•Danville: Upper parking lot at the Sanctuary on East Church Street
•Fredericktown: Senior Center/village building along North Main Street
After each on-the-hour pickup, passengers will be offered several stops to deboard in Mount Vernon. In Centerburg, those stops will be at Harcourt Road and Johnson Avenue, Jackson and High streets, and the Station Break Senior Center. For the Danville shuttle, Mount Vernon stops will include Kroger, Chestnut Shock Park, and the Station Break. In Fredericktown, shuttle stops proceeding toward Mount Vernon will be at Fredericktown Industrial Park, the License Bureau in Mount Vernon along North Sandusky Street, and the Station Break.
The Station Break, at 160 Howard St., will serve as a transfer stop for all three village shuttle services. Here, passengers taking the shuttles for work purposes will be able to transfer to a Mount Vernon Industrial Park express shuttle “on the half hour” — such as 6:30 a.m., 7:30 a.m. etc., through 9:30 a.m. for each morning route. This will enable them to take the Industrial Park to Mount Vernon Express with stops at Pine Street and Newark Road, Industrial Park Drive and Jeld Wen, Industrial Park Drive and Blackjack, SanOh, and Parrot and Main streets. The timing will be tight, McAvoy informed commissioners in early May, but is designed so that employees picked up on the hour, such as 6 a.m, would be able to clock in on time for a 7 a.m. shift. There are also shuttle transfer services on the half-hour, originating at Station Break, which give passengers transport back to their villages.
