In an effort to create more economic development on the east side of Gainesville, the city has approved a new transit center.

The RTS Transfer Hub will be located near Southeast Eighth Avenue as part of the Eastside Health and Economic Development Initiative, it's an effort to address the lack of resources on the east side of town.

The Transfer Hub will be across the street from the urgent care clinic that is expected to open in spring 2024.

Eastside Health and Economic InitiativeCity, county tap Waldo Road as east Gainesville’s potential economic hub

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Economic hub in GainesvilleCity, county tap Waldo Road as east Gainesville’s potential economic hub

The property for the RTS Transfer Hub was transferred from UF Health to the city. The city also will complete road improvements in the area.

"It helps extend more robust transit to folks who are more likely to get to work. We have bus stops along Hawthorne Road and throughout the east part of the community, but we've never invested in a real transit infrastructure east of Waldo Road, and this is big step toward doing that," said Mayor-elect Harvey Ward.

Andrew Persons, a special adviser to the city manager, said at a recent Gainesville commission meeting that the city is working with the Federal Transit Administration to obtain funding so construction can begin in 2023.

Erik Bredfelt, the city’s economic and development director, said the Transfer Hub is a piece of the overall project to bring more resources to the east side of Gainesville.

Urgent care clinic on its way

The urgent care clinic on the east side of Gainesville has been in the works since September of 2021. The move to get a clinic there came after the publishing of the Understanding Race and Inequities report in 2018, which identified health disparities on the east side of Gainesville.

The initiative has been a collaboration between the city of Gainesville and Alachua County, which each contributed $2.5 million of American Rescue Plan Act funding for the construction of the urgent care center.

“The goal is to address the lack of public health services and facilities around East Gainesville and Alachua County. Ultimately this particular urgent care center will serve all ages, and those with and without insurance coverage,” said Lakesha Butler, chief diversity officer for UF Health.

The Gainesville Sun previously reported the project would be phase one of UF Health’s plans, with the second phase to include dental and mental health care facilities.

The clinic is expected to be complete by spring of 2024. Until then, UF Health will have community forums at Lincoln Middle School in February of 2023, and a groundbreaking is scheduled for April.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: East Gainesville transit hub approved as new clinic plans progress