By Eric Stock

BLOOMINGTON – Residents of a senior and disabled housing complex in Bloomington are trying to save their bus stop.

Tony Grant, manager of Phoenix Towers, told WJBC’s Terry James Connect Transit’s plans to eliminate a fixed route in front of the apartment building at 202 W. Locust St. will make it more difficult for residents to get to their doctors appointments and will add to their financial stress and isolation.

“I hear my residents often say things like they helped make Bloomington-Normal become what it is today off of their labor and their hard work and now that they are in the sunset of their years, they want to make sure they still have access to the services within the community,” Grant said.

According to Connect Transit’s proposed route changes, those residents would have to walk one block across the highway to catch the bus on Chestnut Street, which Grant said will be difficult and potentially unsafe for them to make..

Grant added those buses not only connect their residents to the community for appointments and other necessities, but also for times when they simply want to get away.

“Connect Transit affords them that opportunity that if they are feeling blue or they are depressed in a day, the fixed stop out front affords them that opportunity to maybe to go the mall or go to a friends’s house,” Grant said.

Residents plan to protest at Connect Transit’s scheduled listening session at 6 p.m. at Normal Public Library.

Connect Transit has said it’s larger buses can’t fit in the Phoenix Towers driveway, that pickup has had lower ridership and the agency is looking for more efficient routes. Grant disputes Connect Transit’s numbers and is compiling his own survey to measure usage.

The listening session is set for 6 p.m. at Normal Public Library.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].