Yuma Again Seeks Hotel del Sol Grant

By Mara Knaub for Yuma Sun 
Yuma officials are not giving up the dream. The city is again applying for a federal grant to convert the historic Hotel Del Sol into a multimodal transportation hub. 
City Council unanimously adopted a resolution supporting the application for a Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development Transportation Discretionary Grants program to complete the development of the transit center. 
The city has long presented the project as an effort to provide the community with alternate methods to get to and from school, work and daily events as well as a way to create opportunities for economic revitalization in the region.  
According to a staff report, transforming the Hotel Del Sol for use as a transit center will enhance access to the downtown area. As a multimodal hub, it would accommodate several modes of transportation, including its continued use as the Yuma County Area Transit’s main transfer point for riders to walk downtown or connect to another route in the system. 
Proposals call for using the hub as a host for Greyhound bus ticketing, an Amtrak terminal and a Greyhound substation. The exterior could include a pedestrian plaza, rideshare areas, and designated crossings to the nearby Amtrak depot and Armed Services Park. 
The project is also anticipated to promote private sector development by incorporating prime commercial space into the facility and surrounding properties.  
This is the seventh attempt to secure federal funding for the project. In July 2019, the city submitted its sixth grant application to the U.S. Department of Transportation seeking funds for the project. The city’s last application made it all the way through the last office toward final approval last year. However, in October, the city learned the application was not selected as one of the final awardees.  
Read more at Yuma Sun. (Subscription required.)