KAPOLEI, Hawaii -- Just three years after the city spent more than $1 million on a new bus transit center in Kapolei it has to move out.

The center is located off of Kamokila Boulevard between Zippy's and the movie theaters in Kapolei. The state is using the site for a new freeway interchange.

The Kapolei Transit Center opened three years ago this month. It is a location where express and local shuttle buses converge in a transfer point for bus riders.

The city spent $1.4 million on building the center, which it now has to abandon because the state plans to build a freeway interchange here.

"I think that's ridiculous. That's just like a waste of money," bus rider Sara Gomes said.

When the city built the facility in 2003, the city planned to stay there for about 10 years, but the state sped up its plans for new freeway ramps there.

"This project was supposed to start five, 10 years down the road. But, because of the way traffic is just so congested in the heart of Kapolei, we decided, you know, we better do this now and help alleviate some of the traffic congestion in that area," Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa said.

So the city is searching for a new Kapolei transit center site and bus riders hope the new location is equally as convenient.

"A lot of people depend on this place, you know? It takes you to Honolulu. It takes you to Ewa Beach. It's like a shortcut," Gomes said.

The city has about six months to find a new location for the bus transit center in Kapolei. That's because the state plans to break ground for the new freeway interchange project at the end of the year.

A crew has already begun soil testing for the project, which will add off ramps from both the H-1 Freeway and Farrington Highway from Waianae and an on-ramp to the H-1 Freeway in the Honolulu-bound direction.

"By putting an interchange in the heart of Kapolei, people can get right onto the freeway from there, and things won't be as congested," Ishikawa said.

Landowner Campbell Estate is spending more than $2 million for the planning and design of the on- and off-ramp, and the state will spend $10 million building them.