Scott County has bought one of the six Denny Hecker auto dealerships that Hecker closed in late 2008 and is going to transform it into a major transit hub. In this photo:] Weeds have become overgrown in the parking lot. (Dml - Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Where Denny Hecker once sold cars, Scott County residents will someday board buses.

The county recently purchased the former Shakopee Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealership at Hwy. 169 and Marschall Road with plans to turn it into a park-and-ride transit station for BlueXpress buses and other services by 2014.

But local officials are hoping buses may arrive this spring -- temporarily, anyway -- to help commuters get across the Minnesota River on Hwy. 169 if spring floods close other bridges.

Michael Leek, who oversees the BlueXpress bus service that serves Prior Lake and Shakopee, said he has floated informal requests for five or six buses to regional transit officials, with encouraging response. No formal plan has been made yet.

"In this kind of circumstance, this would certainly be better than nothing if we can get cars off the road," Leek said.

The former car dealership has more than 400 parking spaces and a prime location next to Hwy. 169. It was closed in November 2008 as the economy tanked and Hecker's legal troubles mounted.

The general area of Marschall Road and Hwy. 169 had already been identified as a good spot for a transit station.

But much of the land was developed or too costly to consider, said Lezlie Vermillion, deputy county administrator.

"It was the economic downturn that made it available for the public," she said.

The county purchased the site in November.

The total cost was $3.2 million, with the Minnesota Department of Transportation kicking in $2.3 million of that through grant money and Scott County picking up the rest.

The former car dealership showroom and office building will be remodeled as a waiting room and general office and staging area for all of the transit in the county, from commuter buses to smaller Smart Link transit vehicles that serve dial-a-ride and Metro Mobility riders.

A new transit-only ramp will connect the transit station to Hwy. 169.

"It will actually provide the most direct access to 169 of all of our sites," Vermillion said.

BlueXpress will apply for grant money to pay for new buses and expand service once the park-and-ride opens.

Another new park-and-ride is already in the works at County Road 21 and Eagle Creek Boulevard in Shakopee.

When that transit station is opened later this year, serviced by three new buses, it will have 545 park-and-ride stalls and the potential to expand if needed. The county has a long-term lease from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community for use of that land.

BlueXpress, with its current transit station at Southbridge Crossing, carried 141,685 riders in 2010. That's down from a spike in 2008 -- the first full year of operation, which coincided with a jump in gas prices -- but up from 2009, when there were 137,289 riders.

Katie Humphrey • 952-882-9056