Shuttles Planned for Bluegrass Festival

The Town of Palisade took ownership of two used Grand Valley Transit (GVT) twelve-passenger busses today and will make first usage of its new vehicles to operate a shuttle service for the Palisade Bluegrass and Roots Music Festival June 12 through the 14.

The busses have been in service for GVT for several years and were due to be cycled out of the fleet and replaced with new models. GVT historically replaces its high mileage busses, donating the older units, selling them at auction, or parting them out.

Tim Sarmo, Palisade Town Administrator, thanked the Mesa County Commissioners and said, “We will make good use of the busses providing transportation for special events and recreational outings.” Mesa County has always been of great help to Palisade. This is the type of local government cooperation that makes the most of taxpayer dollars. We thank and commend the Commissioners for the donation and their on-going support to Palisade.”

Both buses have over 165,000 miles but are in operable condition. “Unlike GVT, we will not place extraordinary mileage on the busses and given Palisade’s small geographic area they should serve us well for many years”, said Sarmo.

The Town’s first planned use is for the upcoming Bluegrass and Roots Music Festival. Using volunteer drivers, the Town will operate a free shuttle for festival goers to and from Riverbend Park. Shuttle stops will include the business district on Highway 6, the Palisade Plaza at Third and Main downtown, the Palisade Brewery and Distillery, at Second and Peach Streets, St. Katherine’s Winery on Elberta, the Wine Country Inn Hotel, and Palisade Peachbowl Park and Swimming Pool at Fifth and Elberta. The shuttles will operate every thirty minutes beginning Friday at 1:00 PM until 1:15 AM Saturday, Saturday from 7:00 AM until 1:15 AM Sunday and Sunday from 7:00 AM until 5:00 PM. “We want to provide convenient access to Riverbend Park, offer festival goers the chance to experience all of Palisade and our businesses to benefit from having several thousand people in town for a four day period. Festivals and special events are extremely important to the Town and we see the shuttles as a way to improve the festival experience in town.

The Town also sees the opportunity to use the busses throughout the year for other festivals, transporting the Board of Trustees and staff to tour local sites of interest, visitor tours, and recreational outings for town citizens.