The people who are supposed to know about such things say Publix’s proposed construction of a 45,000-square-foot, supermarket-anchored shopping center on State Road 510 will not significantly impact traffic flow in the area.
The people who live on the northern half of the barrier island – some of them, anyway – say they don’t believe it.
Since February, when Vero Beach 32963 broke the news that Publix was planning to build a store just east of the intersection of 510 and U.S. 1, I’ve received phone calls and emails from concerned island readers, particularly those who live in and adjacent to Orchid.
All of them have expressed the same sentiment: Putting a Publix shopping center in that location will only make a bad traffic situation worse.
“510 can’t handle the traffic that’s already there,” longtime Orchid Isle Estates resident Steve Lewis said. “Now they want to build a shopping center there? It’ll be a nightmare.”
Take it from someone who has been stuck in it: The late afternoon traffic congestion on westbound 510 during the busy winter months is a problem, creating backups that extend over the Wabasso Causeway Bridge and beyond.
Sometimes, at the height of the season, the conga line of vehicles can stretch from U.S. 1 to State Road A1A.
“January through April, you don’t want to be headed west on 510 between 3 and 5 in the afternoon,” said an Old Orchid resident who identified himself only as “Jim” when he called. “Do they really need to put a store there?”
Other callers cited the growing numbers of visitors to Wabasso Causeway Park and the new event pavilion at the Environmental Learning Center, both just east of the Publix site, as well as DiVosta Homes’ 270-roof Harbor Isle community now under construction at southeast corner of the 510-U.S. 1 intersection.
Some worried about the combined impact on traffic of a new shopping center and the arrival of the Brightline high-speed trains that will zip through the 510 railroad crossing, located only a few feet west of the U.S. 1 intersection.
More than one caller reminded us there’s a Fire Rescue station on 510, across from the Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club, and that emergency vehicles sometimes need to wind their way through the westbound backups to get to U.S. 1.
“It’s going to be a disaster,” one island woman said.
Publix’s Bridge Marketplace project, however, already has been approved by the county’s Planning and Zoning Commission, which carefully reviewed a traffic study that met the requirements imposed by both the county and Florida Department of Transportation.
A Publix spokesperson said she could not provide any information as to when construction would begin. But Ryan Sweeney, the county’s chief of current development, said it’s unlikely work crews will break ground before the last quarter of this year.
“They still need a few permits,” he said.
As for the plan, Sweeney sent me the staff report that describes the roadway improvements Publix is required to make to accommodate traffic flow along 510 and provide entry to and exit from the shopping center.
Those improvements include the construction of a new:
- Eastbound right-turn lane from 510 onto Harbor Isle Way, which is located on the east end of the 7.5-acre property and will serve as the main road into the shopping center.
- Westbound left-turn lane from 510 on Harbor Isle Way.
- Eastbound U-turn lane at the intersection of 510 and Harbor Isle Way. This improvement has the potential to become a left-turn lane to property to the north, if it is ever developed.
In addition, Publix must install – at the intersection of 510 and Harbor Isle Way – a traffic signal that Sweeney said will be synchronized with the signal at the U.S. 1 intersection and, in an effort to enhance traffic flow, remain green to eastbound and westbound traffic 80 percent of the time.
The new signal also will allow traffic exiting the shopping center to safely turn left onto westbound 510.
In case you’re wondering: Yes, the two traffic signals on 510 – at the U.S. 1 and Harbor Isle Way intersections – will be only about one-quarter of a mile apart.
But FDOT granted Publix a variance that allows the new signal to be installed only 1,350 feet from the one at the U.S. 1 intersection, rather than the required 1,500 feet.
“It doesn’t meet the standard separation distance,” Sweeney said, “but I don’t think eastbound traffic is going to back up to U.S. 1.”
DiVosta, meanwhile, was required to build a new turn lane along northbound U.S. 1, south of the 510 intersection, to allow traffic to enter Harbor Isle or veer left onto Mayflower Road, which will loop around the gated community’s perimeter and provide access to the shopping center.
“If you’re northbound on U.S. 1, you don’t need to go through the intersection to get to Publix,” Sweeney said, adding that Harbor Isle will have entrances off both U.S. 1 and 510.
Sweeney said he understands the island residents’ concerns about the Bridge Marketplace – along with a 34,000-square-foot Publix, the plaza will include a liquor store, four other retail spaces, and a bank with drive-thru service – but he believes the mandated improvements should mitigate much of the potential increase in traffic congestion.
“All things being equal, it’s easy to think: It’s bad now, and adding to it only makes it worse,” he said. “But the studies were done, and the plan meets all the requirements.”