Shoppes at East Marco Publix takes shape

[thelakelander]

A two decade wait for a Publix anchored shopping center to open in San Marco is nearly over.

Read More: https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/shoppes-at-east-marco-publix-takes-shape/

[jaxjaguar]

I thought this was supposed to have residential above the shopping? What the heck happened? Why is a historic neighborhood getting a generic shopping center that looks copy pasted? NIMBY's?

[acme54321]

I thought this was supposed to have residential above the shopping? What the heck happened? Why is a historic neighborhood getting a generic shopping center that looks copy pasted? NIMBY's?

The residential was nixed like 5 years ago.

One part of this project that seems to have been poorly communicated is the restriping of Atlantic along that stretch.  A few weeks ago, without any warning or much signage, they restriped it so that the westbound left lane becomes left turn only at Mango Pl. Everyone just drives right over the striping like it's not there though.  Not sure why it was really necessary to begin with but it's definitely causing confusion and seems like it's going to be a bigtime bottleneck as a lot (the majority?) of the traffic westbound on Atlantics turns south onto Hendricks.

They have also installed a few crosswalks in that area.  Not sure if they will be the lighted kind or not though.

[jcjohnpaint]

What's with all the extra parking behind Wells Fargo?

[jaxlongtimer]

What's up with the Matthew's Restaurant building next door?  Remodel?  Closed?  Can't really tell driving by.

[acme54321]

What's up with the Matthew's Restaurant building next door?  Remodel?  Closed?  Can't really tell driving by.

Facade update from what I can tell.

[realestatejax]

I thought this was supposed to have residential above the shopping? What the heck happened? Why is a historic neighborhood getting a generic shopping center that looks copy pasted? NIMBY's?

The residential was nixed like 5 years ago.

One part of this project that seems to have been poorly communicated is the restriping of Atlantic along that stretch.  A few weeks ago, without any warning or much signage, they restriped it so that the westbound left lane becomes left turn only at Mango Pl. Everyone just drives right over the striping like it's not there though.  Not sure why it was really necessary to begin with but it's definitely causing confusion and seems like it's going to be a bigtime bottleneck as a lot (the majority?) of the traffic westbound on Atlantics turns south onto Hendricks.

They have also installed a few crosswalks in that area.  Not sure if they will be the lighted kind or not though.

This is going to be a major issue especially when the school year starts again. 

[thelakelander]

What's with all the extra parking behind Wells Fargo?

It's for the shopping center. Between the Publix, adjacent retail and dining, those spaces will likely stay full.

[fieldafm]

I thought this was supposed to have residential above the shopping? What the heck happened? Why is a historic neighborhood getting a generic shopping center that looks copy pasted? NIMBY's?

The residential was nixed like 5 years ago.

One part of this project that seems to have been poorly communicated is the restriping of Atlantic along that stretch.  A few weeks ago, without any warning or much signage, they restriped it so that the westbound left lane becomes left turn only at Mango Pl. Everyone just drives right over the striping like it's not there though.  Not sure why it was really necessary to begin with but it's definitely causing confusion and seems like it's going to be a bigtime bottleneck as a lot (the majority?) of the traffic westbound on Atlantics turns south onto Hendricks.

They have also installed a few crosswalks in that area.  Not sure if they will be the lighted kind or not though.

This is going to be a major issue especially when the school year starts again.

8 feet of lane reduction will be a major issue for the less than two hours each day during the roughly 170 days a year in which school is in session?     

Umm, ok.


As far as the intersection safety improvements are concerned, there was quite a bit of publicity surrounding these enhancements. I went to two public meetings that Councilwoman Cumber had hosted in conjunction with FDOT.

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/2-million-dollar-safety-improvement-project-could-be-coming-san-marco-area/F2FWK2CPSRHJXNI7QHETYSQDVM/

https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2021/09/08/san-marco-square-hendricks-avenue.html

https://residentnews.net/2021/10/01/town-hall-meeting-called-to-address-pedestrian-safety-concerns-alter-traffic-patterns/

What's with all the extra parking behind Wells Fargo?

These will be used for valet service for the full service restaurants after 5pm (when the branch is closed), as stipulated in the Publix lease.

[Captain Zissou]

Interesting that all the naysayers from years past are conspicuously silent now that the grand opening is imminent.

Could this space be better used and fit better into the neighborhood? Sure.  Given the lease-rates the developer can command, the largely car oriented nature of San Marco and Jax, the parking requirements from publix, and the site available... should we have expected much better? No.

[acme54321]

8 feet of lane reduction will be a major issue for the less than two hours each day during the roughly 170 days a year in which school is in session?

It could definitely be a major impact.  The car line from Landon spills out onto Atlantic and they just sit there blocking the entire right lane where the road is now one lane.  So either JSO is going to have to run the car line off or people are just going to drive over the now striped off portion of the left lane and JSO will have to ignore it.  I imagine the latter is what's going to happen.  It's going to be a total cluster in the beginning of August with the Publix opening and school starting until people start to figure it out, that's for sure.

[MusicMan]

Publix Grand opening August 11

First day of school is August 15

Really glad I don't have to drop off/pick up at Landon anymore.

That being said, most of the drop off happens before 8 15 am, not a lot of Publix traffic at that hour.  There has been, historically, a pretty lengthy back up on Hendricks at that time (7 45 am...8 15 am). I guess we will see.

[JBTripper]

Moved to San Marco in 2011 and all it took was moving to Gainesville in 2022 for this to finally happen.

[fieldafm]

8 feet of lane reduction will be a major issue for the less than two hours each day during the roughly 170 days a year in which school is in session?

It could definitely be a major impact.  The car line from Landon spills out onto Atlantic and they just sit there blocking the entire right lane where the road is now one lane.  So either JSO is going to have to run the car line off or people are just going to drive over the now striped off portion of the left lane and JSO will have to ignore it.  I imagine the latter is what's going to happen.  It's going to be a total cluster in the beginning of August with the Publix opening and school starting until people start to figure it out, that's for sure.

Line queuing on a state road is technically illegal, and there is a JSO officer (being paid overtime) on the road during those times (that is being paid) to keep traffic flowing correctly.  So perhaps designing the road to reduce the conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians during the other 97% of the calendar year, is more important than the roughly 3% of the time during a year where there are cars lined up on the street for school pickup/dropoff- particularly with a JSO officer getting paid time and a half to direct traffic during those very limited times.

Parents also have the option of their middle schoolers walking/biking to school when bussing is not available (like I did in those 'old days' of the 80's/90's). The lane reductions and added crosswalks enhances the safety of those students walking/biking to school, as well.

[acme54321]

As far as the intersection safety improvements are concerned, there was quite a bit of publicity surrounding these enhancements. I went to two public meetings that Councilwoman Cumber had hosted in conjunction with FDOT.

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/2-million-dollar-safety-improvement-project-could-be-coming-san-marco-area/F2FWK2CPSRHJXNI7QHETYSQDVM/

https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2021/09/08/san-marco-square-hendricks-avenue.html

https://residentnews.net/2021/10/01/town-hall-meeting-called-to-address-pedestrian-safety-concerns-alter-traffic-patterns/

Are we even talking about the same thing?  All of these links are about the Hendricks/San Marco Blvd intersection.