The Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority’s Route 51 Haverhill-Amesbury bus is making changes for better passenger access to elderly apartments, physicians’ offices, food assistance and the post office.
The route change begins Monday, Feb. 14, and comes after Amesbury Mayor Kassandra Gove met with Noah Berger, the Transit Authority’s new Administrator, to make suggested improvements.
“Not only is the new bus route via Main Street more direct and efficient, it also better serves key destinations our riders need to get to. This is exactly the type of service improvement we are seeking to implement across our service area,” Berger said. He added Gove and her team also worked with the bus company to ensure the infrastructure was in place to make it happen.
The new route will have the bus continue straight from School Street to Main Street for easy bus access for Heritage Towers, Our Neighbors’ Table and the Amesbury Post Office and then turn onto Wells Avenue for access to the Amesbury Health Center.
The existing Route 51 bus route leaves the Nicholas J. Costello Transportation Center at 68 Elm St, drives through the center of Amesbury, up Friend Street, takes a left on School Street, right on Sparhawk Street and left on Highland Street to get to Route 110.
Gove said, “We have many residents who rely on public transit for their jobs, to meet their basic needs and access grocery stores, and just to get around. This route change, while minor, will have a major impact for folks who live on the route and for others to access the resources along Main Street like Our Neighbors’ Table and the Post Office.”
Improving public transit has been a topic of Amesbury’s Age-Friendly Task Force since it started meeting in 2021.