ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – St. Johns County is on the brink of significant development as Walmart confirms plans to open a new supercenter on International Golf Parkway near World Golf Village.
The addition of the planned 180,364-square-foot Walmart Supercenter, alongside the new Bass Pro Shops location that opened Wednesday, is expected to boost foot traffic, but it could also increase congestion on nearby roads. County leaders are exploring major traffic adjustments to address these anticipated changes.
News4JAX confirmed the planned Walmart on Thursday.
Related: Growth in St. Johns County highlighted by Bass Pro Shops opening
“The entitlements to build these were already there back in 2003 and that developer is actually the sole reason why IGP is four-lane road today,” said Dick D’Souza, Growth Management Assistant Director over Transportation for St. Johns County.
Traffic and funding challenges
County officials and state representatives discussed potential solutions at a recent commission meeting.
Proposed options include two concepts for improving traffic flow near Bu-cee’s intersection:
- Concept 1: Adding U-turns to ease congestion, estimated at $5 million.
- Concept 2: A ramp design to bypass high-traffic areas, with an estimated cost of $40 million.
State Representative Kim Kendall’s office emphasized the importance of prioritizing these projects, urging the county to move them into its top-five list of regional priorities to secure funding.
“The idea is, when something kind of makes it into the top five, it becomes more eligible for funding. Just as the list goes down, as TPO funds a project, funded projects move up, move off the list, and then unfunded projects obviously move up in the list. The e idea would be, let’s put this interchange into the top five,” said D’Souza.
Related Video: Inside look at the new 100,000 square-foot Bass Pro Shops in St. Augustine
County’s top priorities for road improvements
The current top-five transportation priorities identified by St. Johns County focus on reducing congestion and improving safety. These include:
- Capacity and intersection improvements along 9B to County Road 208.
- Enhancing intersections on U.S. 1 between Pine Island Road and Race Track Road.
- Intersection upgrades on State Road A1A from SR 312 to Marsh Landing Parkway.
- Widening lanes to six along C.E. Wilson to I-95, along with I-95 intersection improvements.
- Future adjustments to accommodate World Golf Village development traffic.
It is important to note that these projects are not funded yet, D’Souza says they are just what the county has lined out as the Top 5 priorities.
The timeline ahead
The list of top-five priorities will be revisited during the Dec. 17 county commission meeting.
“That top five would happen in that meeting, and then we as staff, would then transmit that list to the TPO,” said D’Souza.
Adjustments to the list could position the region for better access to critical funding streams.
D’Souza explained, “It’s really just a ranking, but it tells the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization where the county wants to allocate resources, should they become available,” said D’Souza.
As St. Johns County continues to grow, officials face the challenge of balancing rapid development with maintaining infrastructure that meets the needs of its residents.