How much traffic will proposed Meijer development bring to O’Fallon neighborhood?

Pierce Boulevard area residents will be able to hear the results of the recently conducted traffic survey when CBB Transportation Engineers + Planning returns to O’Fallon City Hall on Thursday, May 18, at 6 p.m.

The city’s traffic consultants have been analyzing the options to address cut-through traffic on Pierce after a vocal turnout at a Town Hall meeting April 27. Residents were asked to submit written comments by May 7.

Pierce is a connector road near the Interstate 64 interchange and not far from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.

Residents who already complain about the volume of traffic in their neighborhood have been concerned about how any new development would impact on them. About 60 people at the last meeting shared experiences with semi-trucks and commercial vehicles using Pierce, plus reckless drivers speeding and disregarding stop signs.

The engineers have been sifting through those suggestions and using their traffic study research to come up with solutions. Traffic Engineer Lee Cannon will share those details at the public meeting.

Cannon told the group last month that the most recent traffic study indicated that 45 to 50% of the traffic on Pierce is currently cut-through traffic from Lincoln to Green Mount.

In the meantime, long-rumored developments that couldn’t be discussed last month applied for re-zoning with the city on May 1.

Meijer is seeking approval from O’Fallon to develop a 160,000 square foot retail and grocery store and GBT Realty Corporation wants to place a mix of restaurants, retail, and office space on five commercial lots there.

Community Development Director Justin Randall said tenants have not been named for the Shops at Pierce, which is proposed for 25 acres on the northeast quadrant of the Green Mount Road interchange on Interstate 64.

Based in Michigan, Meijer’s is constructing a retail supercenter in Glen Carbon and currently, their closest one is in Springfield, Illinois. The company said it pioneered the supercenter concept in 1962.

Meijer’s features fresh produce and meat, apparel, pet supplies, toys, and electronics, as well as a garden center and pharmacy. On its website, it states that they get produce from over 250 local farmers in the Midwest, and meat and seafood are delivered fresh six days a week.

The company describes itself as a “family-owned, Midwestern retailer” that started in 1934. during the Great Depression. Today, Meijer stores average between 150,000 and 250,000 square feet and stock more than 220,000 items.

Meijer employs about 70,000 people and operates more than 240 supercenters in six states: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Michigan, according to its website. It has been expanding, and a year ago announced four new stores in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.

Residents who attended the April 27th meeting were notified May 3 about the two new applications, for the city could not talk about it then without any paperwork or plans.

Both rezoning applications will be presented for action at the Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday, June 13, at 6 p.m. at the O’Fallon City Hall. The city’s Community Development Department planners will make recommendations.

That is the first of five public meetings that residents will have an opportunity to make comments at, and those dates and agendas are posted on the city’s website.

After the Planning Commission hears about the department’s study, they will take action. If they approve, the request advances to the council’s Community Development Committee, who will determine if it moves forward and placed on the city council’s agenda. After any action, it returns to the CDC before it comes back for final approval.

Representing Ward 6, where this area is located, Aldermen Jim Campbell and Tom Vorce were on hand and have been talking with residents.

“We’re going to work to find the best solution. I’m encouraged by the turnout, and I look forward to the next meeting. It’s good to get the ball rolling,” Vorce said. He has lived in the ward for 16 years.

“It’s helpful to elicit feedback from the people who live there, it’s their reality,” Campbell said. He has lived in the ward for 23 years.

Other aldermen who attended the April 27 meeting included Andrea Fohne, Jessica Lotz, Dennis Muyleart, Nathan Parchman, Todd Roach and Ross Rosenberg.

Roach, chairman of the Community Development Committee, said that spot is the last undeveloped area at the intersection, and a development will likely happen eventually.

“So, the question becomes what can be done to calm traffic or even divert cut-through traffic away from Pierce,” he said. “One possible solution discussed was making Pierce less desirable to use, by implementing things that’s slows the traffic to a point that other routes become more attractive.”

“Of course, every action taken will cause a reaction, so studying it carefully and getting resident input is very important. If the current traffic no longer uses Pierce, it must go somewhere and we don’t want to create a worse problem somewhere else,” Roach said.

Public Works Director Jeff Taylor said police have increased enforcement of speed limits and people rolling stop signs in that area.

People mentioned that GPS directions often send people down Pierce, and officials mentioned trying to stop that route on Google Maps.

To stay up to date on developments in O’Fallon, visit the “Build It Here” map located online at: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/3f141fcb564c4a629b30cf56febfb15a

It provides information on projects that are going through the planning process, under construction and recently completed.