By Bethany Bray
Staff Writer
—
As of this week, residents who can't or won't drive out-of-town have one more option for grocery shopping. The Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority has added an extra stop to its Andover bus route, shuttling residents to a familiar grocery chain in another town while Andover's Shawsheen Plaza remains without a grocery store.
Market Basket, the plaza's anchor store, closed June 26 after four decades in Andover. Stop and Shop, a competing grocery chain, has purchased the plaza but will take three months to renovate before opening a new store in November
In the meantime, MVRTA bus route 21, which runs a loop through downtown to Shawsheen Square and up Route 133, will include a stop at the Market Basket on Route 114 at the Lawrence/North Andover line.
The extra stop adds about 10 minutes onto route 21, said Paul Materazzo, Andover's director of community development and planning.
"We received some calls from seniors that live in the area, asking what the town could do for transportation to the supermarket," said Materazzo, who is on the MVRTA advisory board. "We hope this fills the needs of the community while Stop and Shop is doing renovations... We want to provide these types of amenities for folks that live in town."
Whole Foods Market, a natural and organic products market on Railroad Street with generally higher prices for traditional grocery items, will remain the only supermarket in town until the new Stop & Shop opens.
Materazzo said Market Basket was chosen for the new route 21 stop simply because it is closest conventional grocery store to the existing route, not because of brand loyalty.
A call seeking comment from MVRTA Administrator Joe Costanzo, with whom Materazzo worked to add the extra stop, was not returned before press deadline.
The Andover Senior Center offers a weekly shuttle to the Market Basket on Route 114, and Kathy Urquhart, director of elder services, said it has had to add a second run because of increased use.
For a $4 fee, the center's 12-passenger bus picks up seniors at their homes, takes them to Market Basket and drops them home again.
"It becomes an outing, not just a shopping trip," said Urquhart. "People loved having the (Market Basket) store in town, it's been there forever. For people at Washington Park, for a lot of them, that was a big factor in moving there, that everything was in walking distance. Now that's not the case. (Grocery shopping out of town) is at least a 10 minute drive.
"There are a lot of people that can still drive and are comfortable driving in the immediate area, but not comfortable driving a distance," she said.
Senior center shuttle riders specifically request Market Basket, said Urquhart.
"People do miss it - it's never the same when some place moves out of town. The store here was small, and there was just a comfort level. (Now,) it's a long walk down all those aisles to do your shopping. For someone that's older, it can be a challenge."
Getting there
For MVRTA bus schedules and routes, visit mvrta.com or call 978-469-6878
For more information or to reserve a spot on the senior center shuttle, call 978-623-8321
