Kitsap Transit will design and build a bus transfer station on Clear Creek Road near Greaves Way to replace the transit center at Kitsap Mall, a plan the transit agency’s Board of Commissioners approved Tuesday.

The temporary stop is a compromise to keep a bus stop near the mall.

In November, the mall announced the west entrance of the mall would be “transformed” to make way for a new retail store.

In the meantime, a bus stop will be created on Northwest Randall Way, west of Target, to fill the gap between when Kitsap Transit leaves mall property and when the transfer center near Greaves Way will be ready, said John Clauson, service development director with the agency.

The temporary stop on Northwest Randall Way will be set up by the end of the month, which is when the transit agency must vacate the mall. When mall management notified Kitsap Transit in November that they would not continue with their lease agreement, the original date to vacate was Feb. 15.

Clauson said that Kitsap Transit is continuing discussions with mall management to be able to have a bus stop on mall property so that a smaller transit vehicle would be able to shuttle mall customers and employees from Randall Way to the entrance of the mall. A one-day count of transit riders to the mall calculated about 268 people went into the mall, Clauson said, adding that this was a “quick snap shot.”

The replacement station will cost $100,000 to $120,000 and will operate for three to five years, Clauson said. The transit agency pays about $600 a month to the mall to maintain the current transfer station. The new location will be on a county right of way. Agency officials hope to have the transfer station up and running by May.

“We’ve really been challenged with coming up with a temporary shelter,” said County Commissioner Josh Brown. “I think it’s the best we can do.”