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Waiting to exit
By ANNE LINDBERG
© St. Petersburg Times, PINELLAS PARK -- The Wal-Mart supercenter has been so successful in its first week that the store has created more traffic than city officials expected. Now they are looking for ways to improve traffic flow at the store, 8001 U.S. 19 N. "We expected it to be busy, but this busy? No," said Tom Nicholls, the city's traffic supervisor. "It's just a very, very heavy volume of traffic using that store." The main problem so far is in the parking lot, Nicholls said. Lots of people are shopping at the store, he said. When they get into the parking lot, they have a hard time getting out because of the congestion. Many drivers try to avoid the lot's main entrance, where there's a light and marked turn lanes, and try to exit at 82nd Avenue N, where there is no light and it's harder to get onto U.S. 19. Wal-Mart opened the supercenter, the first in south Pinellas County, on Oct. 24. With a grocery and other kiosks that supplement Wal-Mart's traditional merchandise, the store was an instant hit. People leaving the opening ceremonies were caught in parking lanes while traffic poured into the center. The traffic has not let up since. With the store open 24 hours a day, there have been no lulls, Nicholls said. "The parking lot's stayed pretty full," he said. "It's being very steady." The amount of traffic has been a surprise to city officials, who put out measuring devices for the store's opening. They had planned to wait several weeks, perhaps until after Christmas, to gauge the typical amount of traffic. Instead, Kimley-Horn, the store's designers, decided last week that something needed to be done sooner. On Thursday, they began measuring the traffic in the parking lot to prepare for making changes there. "They're being proactive," Nicholls said. David Trummell, a traffic expert with Kimley-Horn, did not return a message asking for comment. Even if changes are made now, Nicholls said, traffic monitoring will continue. After the holidays, further changes might be made.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
