ORLANDO, Fla. — A project roughly five years in the making is expected to break ground in Pine Hills in the coming weeks.

Lynx officials say they're hoping construction will begin on the Pine Hills bus transfer station in four to six weeks.

What You Need To Know

  • The transfer center hopes to provide residents with quick and easy transfers, connecting commuters to routes across Orlando and Central Florida

  • Currently, many residents must visit downtown Orlando for the nearest transfer center

  • Officials say they're just waiting on final documents from FDOT before they break ground

Community members in Pine Hills met Tuesday night to hear the latest updates on the $15 million project. The transfer center will feature space for eight buses, a customer service and safety office, a pick up and drop off area, as well as parking.

Pine Hills is home to tens of thousands of residents, many of whom rely on public transportation. As it stands right now, some commuters find themselves having to go downtown for the closest transfer center, which is a location used to quickly and easily connect commuters to routes across Central Florida.

Located off Belco Drive and Silver Star Road, the center will provide shade for commuters. Residents like Veron Plymouth say it will be a welcome sight given the amount of time he spends waiting for and riding the bus.

"I don't go out everyday, but when I do go out, it takes me a while," said Plymouth, a Pine Hills commuter. "The bus comes like every 30 minutes on weekdays. On weekends, it's roughly an hour or more."

Community leaders are all too familiar with the struggle and also feel for those who spend a good portion of their day trying to get to the nearest transfer center downtown.

"Why should you wait two to three hours to go one way, and two to three hours to go back home? It makes no sense to me," said Sandra Fatmi-Hall, President of the Pine Hills Community Council.

Besides a safety office, officials say there might even be room to grow and add a police substation.

Leaders say the project is fully funded, with money stemming from multiple sources including Orange County and FDOT. As it stands right now, construction crews are just awaiting a "notice to proceed" letter from FDOT to begin work.

Once construction begins, officials say they hope the project will be completed in 12 to 14 months.

"There's nothing like seeing something come to fruition," said Fatmi-Hall.