In our opinion: Kitsap Transit should have place at Kitsap Mall

It’s great news that Kitsap Mall will be adding a new store, further establishing Silverdale as the commercial center for not just Kitsap County, but shoppers as far away as Forks.

A new store means new jobs, new tax dollars and having another draw at the mall could potentially mean a boom for nearby businesses.

But at this point, the new store is coming at a cost to the community.

As explained in this week’s front page story, the transit agency was given its walking papers. It wasn’t asked to make way for the new store, it was told to leave.

Kicking Kitsap Transit off mall property is bad for our community and bad for business.

Public transportation serves not only employees of the mall — those who either cannot drive, cannot afford to drive, or do their part in helping keep our roads less congested — but customers.

An addition to the mall should not mean the end of a transit center that is convenient and safe as the current Kitsap Transit bus stop. It should also not mean whatever alternative Kitsap Transit finds includes exiling bus riders to a far flung corner of the mall’s parking lot. That is not safe, nor is it convenient.

There is time to find a reasonable solution. It is our hope mall management, in the end, makes the right decision.

A new store means new jobs, new tax dollars and having another draw at the mall could potentially mean a boom for nearby businesses.

But at this point, the new store is coming at a cost to the community.

As explained in this week’s front page story, the transit agency was given its walking papers. It wasn’t asked to make way for the new store, it was told to leave.

Kicking Kitsap Transit off mall property is bad for our community and bad for business.

Public transportation serves not only employees of the mall — those who either cannot drive, cannot afford to drive, or do their part in helping keep our roads less congested — but customers.

An addition to the mall should not mean the end of a transit center that is convenient and safe as the current Kitsap Transit bus stop. It should also not mean whatever alternative Kitsap Transit finds includes exiling bus riders to a far flung corner of the mall’s parking lot. That is not safe, nor is it convenient.

There is time to find a reasonable solution. It is our hope mall management, in the end, makes the right decision.

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