The Whatcom Transportation Authority plans to close its bus station in downtown Bellingham for renovations this summer and for the duration of the 2006-07 school year.

Rick Nicholson, WTA director of service development, said the station is being renovated to accommodate the doubling of the service's riders and buses since the original station was built in 1980.

Nicholson said the WTA will set up a temporary station along State Street between York and East Champion streets and along East Champion between State Street and Railroad Avenue for the duration of the project.

He said the WTA will set up trailers with restrooms and ticket booth shelters on the sidewalks to protect passengers on rainy days.

Pete Stark, WTA director of fleet and facilities, said the renovation is set to begin around Labor Day and end before Western's 2007 fall quarter begins in September.

The exact date when construction will begin is still undecided.

Most Western students will not see their morning commute affected by the renovation, Western's Alternative Transportation Coordinator Carol Berry said.

She said the majority of Western students who commute to campus by bus do not board or transfer at the station. Instead, they board at stops between the station and Happy Valley, or at the Lincoln Creek Park and Ride.

For students who transfer at the station, the construction might affect the commutes of students who board at the station, Nicholson said.

"Some of the buses are going to be farther away from each other than they are now," Nicholson said.

He said some routes will be slightly altered in the downtown area so buses can access the temporary station, which is on one-way roads.

Nicholson said the current facility is not sufficient for the needs of WTA passengers and staff. He said the bathrooms are sub-standard and the waiting area can get crowded.

"Much of the time, the building itself is just not large enough to hold the number of passengers who are waiting out of the weather for their buses," Nicholson said.

He said WTA has grown since the station was last renovated in 1980. Nicholson said they had 15 buses in 1991 - today they have 37. "In terms of ridership, I know that we have more than doubled," Nicholson said.

He said 14,000 people ride WTA buses on an average weekday while Western is in session. That number drops to about 6,000 to 7,000 during the summer or when Western students are on a break.

Sarah Allen, an architect with the Zervas Group Architects as well as an architect for the renovation project, said workers will tear down the station's north wall and extend the building 20 feet toward the road.

The renovation will expand the passenger waiting area, bathrooms and staff lounge. She said the interior of the building will be completely gutted.

The concourse, or the outdoor area where the buses pick up passengers, will also see cosmetic improvements, Allen said. The bare concrete columns that hold up the roof will be wrapped in bricks. Workers will erect a new roof for the station as well, she said.

Allen said property owners along Railroad Avenue have improved and updated current buildings instead of tearing them down.

"We are doing the same," Allen said. "We are trying to stay with what we have."

Allen said the station was an old train depot before it was converted into a bus station in 1980.

Nicholson said he is urging WTA passengers to be patient. He said riders will have to walk a little farther and may be more exposed to the weather for the next year.

"All of that is going to take a little bit of patience on our part and on the passenger's part," he said.

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