New downtown SCT transit bus shelter will complement other work

The components for a new SCT Transit bus shelter in mid-town Du Quoin arrived last week. The shelter will complement the nearly $1.5 million worth of infrastructure work that has gone on here and several hundred thousand dollars worth of public and private investment in businesses here.

The infrastructure work has involved nearly $700,000 worth of downtown water line replacement, nearly $800,000 for new sidewalks and the repaving of Main Street early next year.

The new shelter was purchased with a $25,000 grant from the Delta Regional Authority. The shelter was built by Canton, Mich.-based Duo-Gard. The shelter is seven-feet wide, 20 feet long with tinted glass and will borrow from Du Quoin's red and black colors. The shelter cost $18,000 and will be constructed on a concrete pad already poured by Skoffic Construction Co. of Du Quoin at a cost of $10,000.

Signage at the shelter will cost about $1,000 to complete the project.

So, the entire project is Made in America.

It is handicapped-accessible and will be the first structure of its kind to protect riders in the seven-county SCT transit bus system.

The structure is being placed in downtown Du Quoin because, among other things, it will serve daily riders to and from one of the Gilster Mary Lee Industries plants.

The area will get some aesthetic landscaping treatments and possibly a downtown clock to complement the historic look of the lantern lights along Main Street.