In future you may not have to leave your keys at the C&J Bus Terminal when there are too many cars parked in the lot. The C&J Bus Terminal on Storey Avenue in Newburyport is adding more than 100 parking spaces - but it won’t happen until next year. A transportation center in Amesbury is also getting closer to being a reality.

The C&J lot currently has 510 spaces. Bus riders can leave their cars parked for free in the lot for up to 28 days. The parking lot expansion project is scheduled to take 18 months to complete, and is expected in early 2011. Newport Construction is building a new retaining wall on the east side of the site, which is near Interstate 95, and will remove a hill to make room for the new parking spaces on the east side of the existing road, said project foreman Matt Zona.

The C&J buses are popular with commuters and travelers to Logan Airport and South Station. Founded in 1968, C&J is the second largest provider of intercity bus transportation in Northern New England. The company serves five destinations with more than 30 daily departures from the New Hampshire and Newburyport and more than 450,000 passengers each year. The bus service employs 80 full and part-time personnel at three terminals and operates 15 MCI Motor Coaches.

In Amesbury, bus service is also expected to improve next year. Bids have been issued for a new Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority (MVRTA) transportation center. The center will be in the city’s Lower Millyard area at the intersection of Railroad Avenue and Elm Street. The buses will come through Amesbury from Haverhill, Merrimac and Newburyport.

The 10,000-square-foot transportation center, proposed eight years ago, is expected to be a focal point for economic development in the city. The building will also house other town facilities, including the Amesbury Senior Center, the Health and Human Services Department and Amesbury Veteran Affairs office. There will be meeting room that can accommodate 150 people.

The Amesbury construction project is expected to begin in late spring. Bids are to be submitted by March 12. The project will cost $8.6 million, much of it expected from the federal government. The city is contributing the land for a parking lot. The state is paying $800,000, and the federal government will pay almost $5 million, plus an expected $2 million in federal stimulus money.

"We are now one step closer to the long awaited ground breaking ceremony,” Amesbury Mayor Thatcher Kezer said. He thanked state Rep. Michael A. Costello and state Sen. Steven A. Baddour for bringing the project to the construction stage.

“Our partnership with the MVRTA on the transportation center will serve to enhance our downtown, improve access to transportation and create an efficient and fully accessible senior center," Kezer said.

The Amesbury project, which will create an estimated 125 jobs, will be named for Rep. Costello’s father, Nicholas Costello, the first mayor of Amesbury and a former state senator and representative.