Vineyard Transit Authority (VTA) and Aquinnah officials commemorated the completion of a VTA bus shelter at the Cliffs with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday morning.
Around 20 people took in speeches by community leaders and shelter designer Tim Laursen before the ribbon was cut by Laursen and several VTA officials.
Made of black locust and cedar wood, the shelter was solely financed by the VTA through funding from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
VTA administrator Angie Gompert emphasized the importance of town and regional collaboration.
“This is the definition of how Island towns can work together with your regional partners, and your regional partners work with state partners,” Gompert said. “You guys know your communities best, and we’re happy to help in the financial sense.”
Aquinnah VTA advisory board member Jay Macleod described the shelter as “the jewel in the crown.”
“This is a great addition to the gateway to the [Aquinnah] shops,” Macleod said.
Macleod also highlighted Laursen’s choice to cover the bolts with wampum shells, a homage to the Wamponoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).
“It’s part of the detail that we all should appreciate,” Macleod said.
Laursen, who also designed the shade structure in front of the Cliff Shops, expressed his love for Aquinnah and its community.
“It’s a real strong community up here. I felt invigorated every day working on this,” Laursen said. “Everyone I talked to in the planning felt like a friend.”
Aquinnah community preservation committee member Beth Green said she appreciates the VTA’s dedication to funding the expenses and aesthetics of the project.
“It looks beautiful, and I particularly appreciate that the VTA paid for it because that would have been a big challenge for the town otherwise,” Green said. “They made such a quick and easy commitment to having such a positive impact on the town. They could have just put up something unattractive and said, ‘That’s the way it goes.’”
VTA systems engineer Andrew Grant said that the shelter is “a quintessential Vineyard-looking bus stop.”
“It would be nice if we could have more of these [bus shelters] to show our Vineyard character,” he added.