By Ken Jackson

In the coming years, mass transit in the area will come down to this: if you can get to downtown Kissimmee, you can get anywhere in Central Florida, including easy access to a train or a bus to points farther away.

The City of Kissimmee, Osceola County and the Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority (Lynx) have partnered to construct the Lynx Multimodal Center in Kissimmee, a project to take share just north of the existing Greyhound Bus and Amtrak train station.

Lynx CEO John Lewis Jr. Wednesday joined local dignitaries in breaking ground on the project that could open as soon as the fall of 2013.

When complete, the eight-bay transfer facility will be the hub for all Osceola County transportation services. Lynx will utilize the bays on a constant basis, with up to 17 bus routes passing through it. Amtrak and Greyhound’s facility will be within a short walk, as will SunRail’s station when the Phase II link of the transit train line that will eventually stretch from Deltona in the north to Poinciana in the south begins local service in 2016.

Designed with the environment in mind, two large oak trees on the site will be preserved, and solar lighting will eventually power the 14 bus shelters.

The Southern Transportation Multimodal Facility, as Lynx calls it, will be constructed on a plot of land bordered by Pleasant Street, Neptune Road, Sproule Avenue and the railroad tracks. The project will cost $2.75 million, factoring in construction and land acquisition, and will be funded by Lynx-secured bonds.

And it’s money well spent, Lewis said.

“This is an investment not only in public transit but in the future of Osceola County and the citizens who live and play here,” he said. “The train is literally coming down the track.”

The facility will vastly improve mass transportation in the county, but that isn’t the only reason local government officials showed joy at Wednesday’s groundbreaking.

The project has been a concept for growth for over a decade; Kissimmee Mayor Jim Swan said he knew about the hub back when he was an Osceola County commissioner, closer to 1993, when the city started its revitalization of the downtown corridor.

“We were talking about multi-modal before that was even a term,” he said. “This facility is going to be great addition to what we’ve already done.”

County Commissioner Brandon Arrington, who until recently sat on the executive boards of Lynx, MetroPlan and SunRail, said investment in transit is exactly what the immediate area needs to balance its sprawl-like growth that tax its roadways. He specifically cited the one-way-in, one-way-out nature of Pleasant Hill Road to much of Poinciana.

“We can’t just keep widening roadways,” he said. “Now we can offer people an transfer point to move than anywhere in the state of Florida. This is an alternative to an hour and a half commute from Poinciana to downtown Orlando.”

Arrington said routes to Medical City, home to the recently-completed Nemours Children’s Hospital and the VA medical facility under construction adjacent to Lake Nona, will be available from the intermodal hub.

“We’re going to be the first ones to have routes to there. Orange County doesn’t even have them planned yet,” he said. “I heard from an Orange County commissioner who wasn’t happy about that, that we were ‘taking their jobs.’ It’s really just taking advantage of an opportunity.

“It’s about opening up access, while at the same time we’ll be able to bring more people to downtown Kissimmee to shop, eat and enjoy the parks and what is has to offer.”

The thought of bringing more people to downtown Kissimmee to patronize its shops, restaurants and other business is music to the ears of Kissimmee Main Street Executive Director Kelly Trace.

“I’ve been hearing that this is been in the works for 10 years,” she said. “Now that it’s going to happen I’m very, very excited.”