Downtown street closures to cause Saturday detours

Several downtown streets will be closed Saturday, October 13. The following detours will be in effect between 9AM and 5PM Saturday:

1 Grant/Logan and 2 Gilbert/Danville Crossing
Outbound buses will follow Walnut, Main, Pine, and North. Inbound buses will follow Gilbert, Main, and Hazel.

10 Danville-Champaign and 13 Tilton
Outbound buses will follow Hazel to Main and inbound buses will follow Main to Hazel.

DMT to demonstrate bike rack on bus

Bike riders may one day be able to take their bikes with them on Danville buses. Danville Mass Transit (DMT) will demonstrate a sample bike rack to the city council’s Public Works Committee on Tuesday, October 9.

The bike rack, which has room for three bikes, was installed last month on a DMT bus. Public Transportation Director John Metzinger said the sample rack was provided by the manufacturer to DMT for testing and demonstration. He said employees are becoming familiar with how to use the rack.

Metzinger wants to install bike racks on the entire fleet to help extend the reach of public transportation and to enhance use of bicycling in the community. He said that he is not aware of any riders using the bike rack, but is not surprised since only one is installed. Several riders have inquired about bike racks and are wondering when they will be available on all buses, he said.

“Installation on the entire fleet is necessary to enhance use,” Metzinger said. “If they are installed only intermittently on the fleet, riders will not be able to count on being able to take their bike with them.” Metzinger said bikes are not allowed inside of buses for safety reasons.

Metzinger estimates costs to buy bike racks for all the buses at $12,000. He said DMT employees would handle the installation in house.