PROVIDENCE — Bus drivers will have a place to use the bathroom at the Kennedy Plaza bus hub by the end of the year.

The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority voted to allocate about $450,000 to build the bathrooms, which Amalgamated Transit Union Local 618 president Walter Melillo said are greatly needed by his union drivers.

“We really need this for our employees,” he said before the vote, during the public comment portion of the Thursday afternoon meeting.

Melillo has spoken in the past about how the lack of restroom access for drivers on their routes causes general discomfort and in some cases health issues.

RIPTA’s building in Kennedy Plaza currently has public bathroom facilities, but “this will ensure that employees are not competing with the public for restroom access,” according to a summarized justification for the project presented to the board.

The cost of the new bathroom came in about $100,000 over what the authority had expected, according to interim CEO Christopher Durand, but the price is still within RIPTA’s facility budget for this year.

Board member Robert Kells questioned whether the investment was the right choice, considering the bus hub is likely to move out of Kennedy Plaza within the next few years.

Durand said that while RIPTA does not own the plaza, it owns the building where the bathrooms will be installed and can use the facility even after a potential hub move.

“If we completely vacated, which I don’t think would happen,” Durand said, “it’s still our building, right? So, we would still have this asset available to us.”

Durand also seconded Melillo’s concern. “One of the biggest issues we have with the operator system is the lack of access to restrooms” he said, adding that they “can’t miss an opportunity” to provide the facilities to drivers.

“Whether Kennedy Plaza is the major central hub, or whether another location becomes a major center hub, there will always be a need for additional facilities for the drivers to avail themselves,” state Department of Transportation director and board chair Peter Alviti said, “so we protect their kidneys and their vital organs.”

The board did not discuss the bus hub project, which could move the facility out of Kennedy Plaza, during the portion of the Sept. 26 meeting open to the public.

The meeting moved onto “more restrooms talk,” as Alviti put it, with the board also voting to approve temporary restroom facilities at the Pawtucket/Central Falls station for both drivers and passengers.

The temporary restrooms will cost $375,000. The contract includes the installation, rental fees, and removal of the bathrooms when the permanent station facilities are completed. RIPTA estimates the facility will be completed in fall 2025 or early 2026.