LEWISTON — Greyhound Lines is considering a move from its downtown location at the Oak Street bus station to outer Lisbon Street.

Timothy Stokes, a spokesman for the company based in Cincinnati, Ohio, confirmed the company was negotiating a lease with J&S Oil to move its bus stop to 1103 Lisbon St. J&S Oil is building a gas station and convenience store there.

“At this time, it is just negotiations and nothing has been finalized,” Stokes said. “So we will continue to operate from the facility downtown.”

The change would move the company’s bus stop 2 miles closer to Lewiston’s interchange on the Maine Turnpike.

Greyhound currently runs six buses out of the Oak Street bus station, and that would continue at the new space, according to a Sept. 6 Lewiston Planning Board memo. Three buses would run south, to Boston and New York City, at 7:45 a.m., 1:15 p.m. and at 3:55 p.m. Three buses would run north to Bangor, at 9:05 a.m., 3:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Marsha Bennett of the Lewiston-Auburn Transit Committee said she had not talked with Greyhound representatives. The committee operates Lewiston-Auburn’s Citylink bus system and manages the Oak Street station.

“We have only heard rumors at this point,” Bennett said. “The company has not contacted any one at the LATC, so we can’t confirm anything.”

Bennett said Greyhound pays $1,012 per month for the space, according to a contract good through 2015.

Stokes said he thought Greyhound’s contract had expired and the company is paying rent month to month for the Oak Street space.

Greyhound operated a downtown bus station on Main Street until 1999, when it relocated to 1567 Lisbon St. — just east of Lewiston’s turnpike interchange. A lack of parking at the Main Street depot was one reason given for that move.

Lewiston built the parking garage at Oak Street in 2004 and it included space for a bus station and for Greyhound, which moved back downtown to Oak Street in 2005. That location is about 2.5 miles from the turnpike interchange. The new location is about 0.6 miles west of the interchange, just past Martin Drive.

Oak Street is Citylink’s hub for all Lewiston routes. Bennett said it’s a good location for the out-of-state bus line, since it is central to the city and potential Greyhound bus riders.

“But from a private company standpoint, Lisbon Street would be closer to the interstate, so they would save time and save fuel,” she said. “It’s a business decision on Greyhound’s part.”

Bennett said Citylink offers hourly service to J&S Oil’s new location on the Lisbon Street line.

“We go out past that stop,” she said. “There really is not much more the transit committee can do until we hear more from the company.”

Stokes said he did not know how close the negotiations were to being settled. The company usually issues a news release when this kind of change is made, he said.

staylor@sunjournal.com