The 60,000-square-foot Chestnut Street Multimodal Station, which was operational in September, was formally dedicated Thursday evening, celebrating the collaborative effort by the Butler County RTA, the city of Oxford, Miami University, the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments and the Ohio Department of Transportation.
The station was funded with federal, state and local funds, the majority coming from the Federal Transit Administration. Miami University contributed the 40-year land lease and $1.6M. RTA provided more than $3M in locally generated revenues.
“What began as a simple though powerful idea, providing more opportunities for people to move, has become a reality,” said Lawson.
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
The hub works to bring various modes of transportation to 97 W. Chestnut St. Features include not just buses, but state-of-the-art passenger waiting areas, public restrooms, bike storage, real-time transit information, passenger kiosks with customer service, and intermodal transfer bays.
The station will connect with Phase 5 of the Oxford Area Trails, which provides people with a path for bikes, scooters, and those who walk and run.
Oxford Mayor William Snavely said the Chestnut facility “provides Butler County residents freedom. That’s what it’s really about.”
“Regardless of income, it’s freedom to work, to get healthcare, to get education, to shop and to make community connections,” the mayor said. “That’s what this represents to me.”
The project also supports Oxford City Council’s major goals: sustainability, economic development and housing.
“We support sustainability, and this is a really good example of that,” Snavely said. “Economic development, giving people the ability to get to work. And housing for everyone is our third goal, and you can’t have housing for everybody if they can’t get to work. This provides all that.”
Lawson said the transportation hub on Chestnut Street is also future-ready, most notably with the anticipation of the Amtrak Cardinal line being operational in 2026.
“We’re positioned to support a future Amtrak platform at Oxford to Chicago, Cincinnati and New York. This is an infrastructure investment that will serve us for the next 50 years,” he said.
“This station is not just about buses, either. It’s about connections. Connections run deeper than routes and schedules. This is where people meet, neighbors meeting neighbors, students and seniors sharing space, and communities are knitted together.”
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For information about the Chestnut Street Station, visit butlercountyrta.com/projects/oxford-multimodal-facility.
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