Crews are working at a rapid pace, getting ready for a new Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market to open on County Road 466A.
Mark Morse announced in his “An Evening With The Developer” annual address earlier this month that the retail giant would be locating a new store there. It is slated to open in mid-2017.
Sandwiched between the Colony Professional Plaza and Sarasota Golf Course, the new store is likely to be a hub of activity.
It will also put more pressure on the tunnel on the multi-modal path running under County Road 466A.
Last year, Community Development District 7 supervisors raised concerns about the amount of traffic that tunnel already handles. They were informed at that time that no additional tunnel would be built for the residents of the Village of Pine Ridge which is under construction in the Fruitland Park section of The Villages.
Their concerns prompted a letter from Morse.
“As the developer of the Villages, we have gone through the same planning, permitting and entitlement work for this area of development as we have for the rest of the community,” Morse wrote in the letter. “We try to look at every aspect of the development process along with what will be available at build out.
“Traffic patterns change when additional amenities such as golf courses, recreation center or shopping opportunities are added. Those opportunities, along with existing traffic patterns, help to shape the movement of users through the community,” Morse wrote.
In 2014, the Project Wide Advisory Committee installed a traffic light on Colony Boulevard to control the flow of golf carts and cars on that busy thoroughfare.
