Construction began this week, and pretty soon there will be one more building added to the busy streets of Tallahassee. It’s called The Gateway Project, and the highly anticipated 50,000 square foot building will be on the corner of Monroe and Tennessee Street. The once vacant lot, cluttered with litter and signs, will soon be transformed into a Walgreens.
In a statement released by The City of Tallahassee, site plans for construction were approved on April 23, 2009. This will be the first time in years residents in the area will have a store, within walking distance from their homes, to buy food, supplies and prescription drugs.
Although there is much anticipation for the new Walgreen, some residents are concerned about the affects construction will have on the already busy intersection. Jay Schuck, senior planner at the Leon County Planning Dept., said if the project were to cause heaver traffic, he would see it as nothing more than a sign of success. To Schuck more traffic means more business.
According to the Florida Department of Transportation, roughly 32,000 cars already cross through the intersection of Tennessee and Monroe on a daily basis.
Tom Payne, who works for Traffic Mobility Management in the Public Works Division for Leon County, said he doesn’t expect a big change in traffic. “The construction itself really shouldn’t have that much of an impact, other than the fact that there will be trucks going in and out carrying supplies in,” said Payne, “They’ve already torn the building down, so the demolition’s already been done.”
The new Walgreens will also include an attached two-story parking garage with three entrances on Monroe St., Tennessee St. and even North Calhoun St. “It’s clear that plans for entering and exiting the parking garage were well thought out,” said Payne, “It will be easy for people to leave and come with minimal traffic.”
Payne also predicts that once the construction is finished and excitement about the new building dies down, traffic should go back to normal.
Joshua Diaz, a 4th-year criminal justice student who lives in the area, said he doesn’t think the new building will have an affect on the traffic. In fact, he says he’s looking forward to the change. “I think it’ll be cool having a Walgreens right down the street,” said Diaz, “I finally won’t have to go all the way to the one near campus to fill my prescriptions.”
As of now, only time will tell what affects the Gateway Project will have on traffic in the area. The project is expected to be complete by the spring of 2014.